


never let me down (again)

by havisham



Category: Free!
Genre: AU of an AU, Alternate Universe - Future Fish, Alternate Universe - Noir, Alternate Universe - Police, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Arguing, Blood and Injury, Entire Precinct Made of Loose Cannons, Jealousy, M/M, Mermaid Haru Can and Will Fuck You Up, Missing Persons, Not Stripper Cops, Partnership, Pining, Resentment, Rin in Drag, Sousuke Is a Damsel in Distress And He Hates It, Stripper Cops, When They Hold A Mexican Standoff But Don't Give You A Gun, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-22
Updated: 2017-05-27
Packaged: 2018-09-19 07:39:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 26,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9427079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/havisham/pseuds/havisham
Summary: Sousuke is a small-town cop whose safe little world is shaken by the arrival of his long-lost best friend and new partner, Rin. Rin is magnetic, exciting, and Sousuke can't deny the feelings the feisty redhead brings out in him -- although he does try.And there's also murder, mayhem and a reality-breaking scientist to deal with -- nothing in Iwatobi is what it seems.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Rating and tags are subject to change as new chapters are added.

“Hey there, big boy. Come here,” said a sing-song voice that seemed to float out of the darkness of the alley. A slim, pale finger followed it out, and crooked in Sousuke’s direction, beckoning him in. 

Sousuke had been off duty for all of a half an hour. He had stopped at a convenience store to buy dinner for himself, since hadn’t felt like cooking anything. He just wanted to go home. 

“Keep moving, lady,” he said, “you’re violating at least twenty city council laws just by standing here.” He glanced at his phone. He didn’t need his directions app to make such a short trip from work to the store to his house, but he could’ve sworn this alley wasn’t on the way home. 

And then Sousuke was pulled into the alley. He put down what he was carrying, pocketed his phone, ready for a fight.

The alley was narrow, hardly wide enough for two people to walk side by side. It wasn’t that much easier to be pressed against someone, face to face, eye to eye. Sousuke was perfectly aware that he had chosen a dangerous line of work, but it seemed particularly ignominious to be murdered in an alley like this. 

For a moment, neither of them spoke. Sousuke’s assailant was shorter than him, though not by a lot. He was wearing ripped pink fishnets and a plaid skirt that barely grazed his upper thighs. A ripped white t-shirt, thin as tissue, was covered a ratty leather jacket that was covered in patches and buttons. A strawberry-blonde wig sat demurely on his head, the curls clipped back with pins. Streaks of glitter had been rubbed against his face and hands, and everywhere he touched Sousuke, the glitter came off on him too. 

He was perfectly, but heavily made up. A pointed teeth pressed against his plush red lips and Sousuke blinked, looked up to wine-dark eyes looking at him, sparkling with contained mirth.

It was his partner, fuck, it was his _new_ partner -- 

“ _Rin?_ What the fuck are you doing?” 

Rin grinned and grabbed his hand, pressed it against his thigh. Sousuke sighed when he felt the heaviness of a holstered gun. 

“Need you, mister,” Rin said, a whine in his voice. He batted his fake lashes at Sousuke, and even though he knew it was just an act, Sousuke felt his heart tighten in his chest. 

Rin hooked his thumbs on the belt loops of Sousuke’s trousers, pulling him closer. Sousuke bent down to hear him. They looked to all the world like like they were haggling over the price for the night. 

Rin’s mouth hovering against his ear as he said, “My CI told me that Butterfly will be here tonight. If we’re smart, we can finally get a positive ID on this guy, maybe even take him in.” 

Sousuke stiffened in Rin’s arms. They had been trying to catch the Butterfly, the most notorious gangster in their district, for almost six months now. Bogged down by bureaucratic inaction and, frankly, some incompetence in on the part of the police force, they didn't even know the identity of the man who controlled all crime in Iwatobi with an iron fist. 

“Does the captain know?” 

Rin shook his head. “What do you say, partner?” 

A whole, silent conversation went on between them. Sousuke had known Rin since he was a boy, he knew how reckless he could be. But there was something about Rin -- something so _convincing_ that he could get you to do anything, believe anything. If Rin said he would catch the Butterfly, Sousuke believed him.

If Rin wanted him to help, Sousuke would do that too. 

He came to a decision then, and nodded. Rin kissed him then, his tongue snaking into Sousuke’s surprised mouth for a moment before he pulled away and flashed him a cheeky grin. Sousuke blinked at him, before he remembered that they were in character. It didn’t mean anything, after all. 

He let himself be manhandled out of the alley and into another one. He threw his arm around Rin, pressing his face against his shoulder, his steps weaving a little as if he was drunk. 

Rin knocked on the painted green door at the end of the alley way. A slot opened and a pair of suspicious, blue eyes glared out at them. Rin put on his most sociable smile, while Sousuke stared gormlessly ahead. 

“What do you want?” said the guard roughly.

Rin gave a slight, girlish laugh. “We only want to have some fun, mister. I heard --” his voice dropped low. “I heard you were looking for people and this one --” he gestured at Sousuke, who slumped forward against him on cue. 

The blue eyes narrowed, taking Sousuke in, before they disappeared and the slot closed tight. They had a second to compose themselves before the door swung open. A dark-haired man with blue eyes gestured over his shoulder. “Drinks at the bar. Don’t overdo it.” 

Rin grabbed Sousuke’s hand and dragged him inside. Inside, once Sousuke’s eyes had adjusted to the dark, he saw that he was in a fairly rundown bar, mostly empty. The people who were there were absorbed with talking and drinking, or watching the empty stage at the end of the room. The spotlight was on and there was a mic stand standing there. All that was missing was the singer. 

They took to the bar, which was manned by a slight, grey-haired boy who didn't seem to be old enough to drink alcohol, much less serve it it. When he noticed Rin, his whole face lit up, and he hurried over where they had taken a seat. 

“I didn’t think I’d see you here so soon,” said the boy, giving Rin such a worshipful look that Sousuke scoffed, not quietly enough for them both not to hear. Rin turned to him, his eyes narrowing. 

“Do you have a problem, lover?” 

“No,” Sousuke said, putting his hand on Rin’s thigh. “When can we go?” He looked meaningfully at the door. But Rin laughed, throwing back his head and showing off his throat. 

“Impatience is a sin. Ai,” Rin said, sweetly, to the bartender. “A whiskey on the rocks for my friend.” 

“And the usual for you?” 

“You got it,” Rin said, winking at him. There was noise in the back and Sousuke turned his head to look for the source. He pretends to press his face into Rin’s hair, licking his neck. He couldn’t remember if he was supposed to be drunk or high. “In the back,” he whispered to Rin, as he continued to paw at him. Rin giggled and squeezed Sousuke’s arm, his eyes alert. 

_Keep looking._

Meanwhile, Ai had stopped even pretending to wipe the bar to stare at their antics. There was a beauty spot on his cheek, which seemed to twitch a little as he stared at them. Stared at Sousuke, especially. If he recognized him… 

Sousuke got up and at Rin’s inquiring look, grimaced. “I’ll be back in a minute.” He made a bee-line to the back of the bar, where the bathrooms were. No one had ever cleaned the place, Sousuke decided as soon as he opened the door and the smell hit him. 

He pulled back and closed the door, just as a man was coming out of the bathroom. 

They collided together and in the whirl, Sousuke saw a small tattoo of a butterfly on the man’s left wrist. He also recognized him: Ryugazaki Rei, the town’s foremost scientist, a genius who always seemed to get grants and prizes despite the tendency for his projects to explode dramatically. 

He had been staring too long. Ryugazaki was giving him a cold look. Sousuke gave him his most foolish smile. “Sorry! Didn’t realize anyone was in there.” 

“You should be more careful,” Ryugazaki said and Sousuke nodded and apologized again. And, because it seemed as though as though Ryugazaki expected him to go inside the bathroom now, Sousuke did so. 

The smell inside hadn’t improved, but he sent about a minute puttering around, washing his hands and staring at his reflection in the mirror in disbelief (and rubbing off marks of Rin’s lipstick on his face) before he left the bathroom again. 

Outside, the atmosphere had subtly shifted. There seemed to be more people around, hovering around Ryugazaki. Sousuke made a quick bee-line towards Rin, who was still at the bar, teasing Ai. 

“Next time it'll be you for sure,” he said, laughing as Ai’s face turned pink. 

“It’s never next time,” Ai said sadly. Rin was about to reply when Sousuke placed a hand on his shoulder. 

“Rin,” Sousuke said, his voice urgent but quiet. He leaned in and whispered into Rin’s ear. “It's Ryugazaki Rei. He's the Butterfly.” 

Rin gave him a swift nod and began to stand when Ai slammed a glass on the table. Distracted, they both turned their gaze on him, but Ai was starting at Sousuke with wide, angry eyes. 

He was also pointing a gun at him.

“Don’t move,” said Ai, a little unnecessarily, Sousuke thought. His hands were shaking, as he held the gun. There was a small tattoo of a butterfly on his wrist. “I would recognize you anywhere, _Officer Yamazaki_. You were the one who picked me up after the fight -- you ruined my future and now I’m going to ruin yours!” 

“Well, fuck,” Sousuke said, because what else there was to say? Rin’s gun was out as well, and it seemed like the entire room was bristling with guns, all them aimed at either himself or at Rin. 

(He was, of course, unarmed.) 

“I told you this was a bad idea,” Sousuke told Rin, who blew a piece of hair out of his face, exasperated. 

“You actually didn’t,” Rin snapped, which was unfortunately correct. 

“Because I knew you wouldn’t listen!” Sousuke shouted and rushed for Ai, just as Rin tried to yank him back. The accompanying bang deafened him and Sousuke screamed as he felt the bullet rip through his shoulder.

He tumbled to the floor, hitting a stool as he went. On the sticky, dirty floor, Sousuke looked up and saw Rin’s face hovering over him, telling him something that he couldn’t quite make out. The room was filling with people and shouting. Filled with uniforms -- he could hear Captain Mikoshiba come roaring in, shouting for others to follow him. 

Sousuke smiled and knew Rin would be all right. 

A flush of blood, hot and faintly steaming, gushed out from the hole in his shoulder. Almost immediately, Sousuke felt pressure on his shoulder and realized that it was Rin again. He’d taken off his shirt and Sousuke, through the pain, though hazily that the new exercise routine he’d picked up while working for Interpol had had really great results. 

“Stay with me, you idiot,” Rin said, his eyes suspiciously bright.

It was a pity that Sousuke would never be able to confess his feelings to Rin. This way was certainly less embarrassing, but also a little drastic. 

“Don’t cry, Rin,” he muttered, trying to reach for him. 

“I’m not crying!” Rin barked, showing his sharp teeth. He pulled down Sousuke’s hand down and held it still. 

Sousuke began to laugh, even though it hurt. “Fuck. Tell my parents…” 

“Hold still. You can tell them yourself,” Rin muttered, but his voice sounded tinny and far-away. 

Everything faded into grey and Sousuke thought that this must’ve be the end. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lord, someone give this boy a hug. He desperately needs it!

Sousuke and Rin were walking home from school, both wrapped up tightly in their coats and scarves. The chilly air nipped at Sousuke’s cheeks and nose and he sighed, loudly enough so that Rin would hear him. But Rin kept walking, his head stubbornly turned away so he wouldn’t see Sousuke. 

It’s stupid, Sousuke thought. If Rin wanted to avoid him, then why did he walk home with him like he always did? Rin was always like this -- too emotional, too much --- 

“Hey, Rin,” His voice was loud enough that a passerby turned to look at him, but Rin’s face was still turned away. “Rin, look at me.” 

“Why?” Rin’s voice was small and cold, and so hurt that it almost took Sousuke’s breath away. 

“I want to tell you something,” Sousuke said, hating how tentative he sounded. It was then, finally, Rin looked at him, curiosity written all over his face. 

“I want to swim relay with you,” Sousuke said, in a rush. “Don’t transfer to Iwatobi to swim with Nanase. I can do that for you. Please stay here.” 

“You said you hated it, that you didn’t want to lose because of someone else, or share winning with other people either. _You said._ ”

“I know I said that,” Sousuke said. “But I changed my mind.” 

A long silence followed, as they trudged back home. 

“Why are you trying to change the past?” Rin said, finally. His voice was different now, deeper. Sousuke blinked to see a grown-up version of Rin standing there, looking down at him. There was no anger in his face, or any other expression. He only look a little tired, as if Sousuke had wrung him dry. 

“I-I wanted you to stay with me,” Sousuke stammered out. 

“You should have said,” said the grown-up Rin heavily. “Now it’s too late for you, Sousuke.” 

_Too late. Too late._

Those words rang through his head, getting louder and louder until Sousuke woke up with a gasp. 

He was in lying in a hospital bed, an IV strapped to him and his right shoulder trapped in a mass of bandages. He felt like he had been run over by a truck. He felt like it probably would have been better if he had died. 

He tried to go back to sleep, but he couldn’t. So he looked around the room and was surprised to find that it was filled with flowers and balloons, and little stuffed animals. He didn’t understand it. He was sure he wasn’t that popular in the department, or in life in general. Where had all this outpouring of support come from? 

Eventually, the brightness of the flowers and balloons started to hurt his eyes. So he stared at the tiles on the walls until he went back to sleep. 

*

“You’re a very lucky young man,” the doctor told him later. “If that bullet had hit you even a half-an-inch down, it would’ve severed an artery. You would’ve bled out in minutes, despite your friend’s best efforts.” 

“I feel very lucky,” Sousuke said, lying. The doctor gave him a narrow look, as if he didn’t believe him, but didn’t push it further. 

*

Captain Mikoshiba and Rin visited him the next day, when Sousuke was feeling less strung out on pain medication. Rin was in his uniform, which was only to be expected and Sousuke had no right to expect otherwise, or feel disappointment over that fact. He was looking pale and wan, as if he hadn’t been sleeping well. 

Sousuke wondered if the apartment he shared with Rin was spotless right now, even the parts that were his responsibility to clean. Rin always did clean when he couldn’t do anything else. It was not a particularly bad trait for a roommate to have, especially since Sousuke himself could be pretty slovenly when he wanted to be. 

“I’m told that they managed to get bullet out of that shoulder,” Mikoshiba boomed. The Captain never met a quiet space he didn’t immediately want to fill up with noise. “With luck and diligence, you’ll be able get use of that shoulder back to almost -- how much did they say, Matsuoka? Sixty, seventy percent?” 

“Something like that, sir,” Rin said, his eyes trained on the floor. 

And Sousuke, Mikoshiba explained, would get a four month leave of absence, to get back on his feet. Maybe he would spend some time at his parents’ place in Sano, or somewhere with better medical facilities for his rehabilitation. 

“If you don’t mind, sir, I’d like to stay in Iwatobi,” Sousuke said, sneaking a glance at Rin, who was standing perfectly still. “And I’d like to report for duty as soon as the doctors allow me to -- I understand it’ll have to be desk duty until I’m recovered, but I’d rather be working.” 

“You would turn down four months of paid vacation to come to work and do filing?” Mikoshiba looked a little incredulous. 

“I want to be of use, sir,” Sousuke said, stubbornly. 

Rin rolled his eyes, trying to sound annoyed as he said, “It’s no good, Captain. Yamazaki can’t be moved when it comes to something like this. It’s better to accept his stupidity and go on.” 

“Hey, I can hear you,” Sousuke said. 

“Well,” Mikoshiba said, finally, “we’ll have to find out what the doctors say, of course. And there’s the results of the inquiry to think about.” 

At the mention of the inquiry, both Sousuke and Rin deflated. 

Mikoshiba, observing their reaction, gave them a brief, grim smile. “But we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Matsuoka, you have the rest of the night off. I need you to get to the station bright and early tomorrow morning. Internal Affairs will have some questions for you.” 

Rin gave the captain a stiff nod, and then Mikoshiba took his leave. 

“We're fucked,” Sousuke said, as soon as the door closed behind the captain. 

Rin rolled his eyes. “You’re an idiot. Why wouldn't you take the time off? Stay home and heal.” 

“And what would I do there? Cook and clean and keep house for you? No thanks.” 

“It's too bad,” Rin said, a little regretfully, “I don't mind your cooking.” 

They grinned at each other for a moment, before Rin sobered up. “They didn't arrest Ryugazaki or any his associates last week -- he wasn’t there when the dust cleared.” 

“I needed to tell you -- that boy who shot me -- he had a butterfly tattoo on his wrist, just like Ryugazaki did. Are they both working for the Butterfly? Or is it something else?” 

Rin frowned and then shook his head. “We’ll get to the bottom of this together, but now you have to rest.” 

Sousuke scowled at him. “I’m dying of boredom here. There’s nothing to do.” 

“I can bring you a book. You can catch up on some dramas.” 

“Ha,” Sousuke said, unamused. “Your taste in dramas is horrible. Everything you like is mawkish and sentimental.” 

“It’s because you don’t have a romantic bone in your body,” Rin said, with a sly smile.

“That’s true,” Sousuke said quickly, flushing a little. 

“Anyway, I have lots of things for you --” Rin’s phone began to ring. He made a face and got the call. Sousuke watched him as his face changed, turned serious. Something was up, he was sure of it.

Rin ended the call and leaned in and kissed Sousuke on the cheek. He hadn’t done that since they were kids, young kids at that. “Bye, Sousuke,” he said, and left quickly. 

“Bye,” Sousuke said, touching the spot of on his cheek where Rin had kissed him. 

*

He was released from the hospital shortly afterward, in the middle of the day. It was strange to walk out of the hospital and wait for the bus to come and take him home. There was no one waiting at the shelter, and when the bus came, it was mostly filled with elderly pensioners, and one teenager, obviously truant, who was hunched over his seat, music blasting through his headphones so loudly that Sousuke could make out the lyrics several seats away. 

If he had been on duty… 

Sousuke was drowsily aware of the bus rolling down the road, calling out the stops as it went. He felt tired, regretting now that he refused to take up Kirishima’s offer to give him a ride home. He hadn’t wanted to seem dependent, not now.

He was thinking this when the bus driver announced the stop after his, and Sousuke cursed under his breath as he pulled the cord to request a stop. The bus went down the street for several blocks before it stopped again. Sousuke got off the bus, ignoring someone’s cheery goodbye. 

Rin always teased him about his horrible sense of direction, but that was an exaggeration. All he had to do was go up the street and then turn on the road that led to the apartment block. It was easy enough. A child could do that. 

It was late enough in the afternoon that school children were coming back home. They stared at him, the big strange man with the bandaged shoulder and dark circles under his eyes. He tried not frown at them, but the pain had started again.

He arrived at the apartment he shared with Rin in a funk, and fumbled with his keys for a moment before he realized that the door was unlocked.

On high alert, Sousuke eased open the door, wishing like hell he had backup his way. Then, the door was flung open and his mother peered out into the doorway. She frowned at him and said, “Sousuke! What are you doing, skulking out of there? Come inside, I’ve made you lunch.” 

“Ma, you didn’t have to,” Sousuke said, sheepishly. 

“I wouldn’t have to, if you’d agreed to come home and recover there,” his mother said, crossing her arms over her chest and looking at him. Yamazaki Noriko and her son had the same intense blue-green eyes, but when it came down a staring contest between them, Sousuke would invariably lose. 

He dropped his gaze for a moment, but that was enough. She wrapped him in a tight hug, and said, fiercely, “If you ever do that again, your father and I will never forgive you!” 

“I didn’t do it deliberately, Ma,” said Sousuke, almost laughing. But his mother gave him a look which was both stern and a little teary, and his smile subsided, somewhat. 

“I’m sorry I made you worry,” he said, a little awkwardly. His mother nodded, and carefully wiped away her tears. 

Composedly, she told him to wash up -- his lunch was getting cold. 

*

After the meal, they sat together and talked a while. It didn’t take long to catch up on the family news -- they weren’t a particularly large family, and mostly led undramatic lives. Sousuke getting shot would be one of the most exciting -- that was to say, most upsetting -- things that had happened to the Yamazakis in generations. 

*

It took some doing to get his mother to finally go. She had wanted to stay overnight, maybe take him home anyway, but after a while, he convinced her that he would be fine. There was food in the freezer for him, enough to last both him and Rin for the next two weeks or so. 

After she had gone, Sousuke wandered around a little, at a loss over what to do. His phone was plugged in and charging -- Rin must have taken it when after he had been shot. There was no damage to it, which was a relief. But it was also a lot cleaner than it had been before, which made Sousuke wonder if Rin had had to wipe off blood from it. 

He opened it and saw that his inbox was full and there were more missed calls, texts and voicemails than he ever wanted to deal with it. So he left it charging again, and took some medication for the pain.

The TV was on as he drifted to sleep, casting flickering blue light across the dimness of living room. Sousuke thought he had never been more tired in his life. 

*

When he woke up again, the TV was off, and he wasn’t alone. 

“Rin?” 

Rin loomed over him, the dark making strange shadows on his face. 

“Sousuke,” he said gravely, “we need to talk.” 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: bad news about Nagisa (but it's not the last time we hear of him), things are not great at casa SouRin, and Sousuke really should stay out of darkened alleyways.

Rin took out a folder and gave it to Sousuke. Inside were printouts from newspaper articles, all about Ryugazaki Rei and his scientific accomplishments. Things that Sousuke had heard of, but with more detail than before. Everything except -- 

“Huh? He had a partner?” There was a picture of Ryugazaki in high school -- or maybe college, standing next to short blonde boy with a big smile. Hazuki Nagisa was his name and he had come up from the same town as Ryugazaki, had gone to the same schools and the same university. Hazuki kept cropping up in those articles about Ryugazaki -- he was described as both Ryugazaki’s partner -- in the lab and in business, and then -- “He disappeared?” 

“From a camping trip, three years ago. There’s been no news about him since. The search turned up nothing, though it seemed like he left on his own accord. No contact with his friends or family, no activity on social media, his financial accounts are all untouched. His family wanted him to be declared legally dead, but not enough time’s gone by for that. Plus, Ryugazaki’s lawyers always file motions to stop them.” 

“You think Ryugazaki was behind his disappearance?” 

“I’m sure of it. Who knows how many secrets Hazuki knew?”

Sousuke reexamined one of the photographs of Hazuki Nagisa. He seemed like a sweet kid. Innocent-looking, but who knew for sure anymore? 

Sousuke put down the photograph and stood up, swaying a little bit. Pain shot through his shoulder, reminding that he had to take his meds again. When he could focus, he looked at Rin, who was looking pale and a little hunted. 

“Come on. When was the last time you ate?” He grabbed Rin’s hand and started pulling him towards the kitchen. “My mom was here, she brought a lot of food.” 

“I’m not hungry,” Rin said moodily, but accepted the reheated bowl of chicken and rice from Sousuke and dug in. 

Sousuke watched him eat for a while, fingers drumming on the counter before he asked, “So? How did your meeting with Internal Affairs go? Should I be looking for a new roommate?” 

“Hah. Mikoshiba saved my ass, as I expected. They chewed me out, but in the end, I wasn’t fired or reassigned. They want to talk to you tomorrow. Are you up for it?” 

“Yeah, of course. I’ve had my statement prepared since I woke up.” 

“Sousuke,” Rin said, chewing his bottom lip nervously. With teeth as sharp as his, it looked painful. “I fucked up. It’s my fault you got hurt. If you’d died …” 

“Not your fault. I should’ve recognized Nitori -- I guess that’s his name. He was actually one my first arrests, I really should’ve …” 

“Fuck,” Rin muttered, pushing his hair back from his face. He gave Sousuke a swift, unreadable look. Then he reached out, across the counter, and grabbed Sousuke’s collar and pulled him toward him. 

“What are you --” 

Rin kissed him, his nose mashing against Sousuke’s own. His teeth bit against Sousuke’s own lip now, nipping hard enough that Sousuke imagined that he could taste blood. He knew that he should push Rin back, try to save their friendship somehow. But this was _Rin_ , kissing him. 

It was what Sousuke had wanted, ever since Rin had returned from Australia during high school. The years of denying it, of pretending it wasn’t real, that he felt nothing for Rin except brotherly feelings -- and now he couldn’t stop it. 

Rin was the first to move away. His face was flushed and his left cheek was shiny, where Sousuke’s tongue had swiped against it. 

He looked horribly smug. “I knew it.” 

“You fucker,” Sousuke said quietly, and meant it. 

“Not until your shoulder heals,” Rin said, sweetly. 

That set off a spark of anticipation at the bottom of Sousuke’s stomach. He felt hot all over, like he was about to ignite. Rin laughed at the look on his face, but Sousuke saw that he was serious and that it was a promise. 

*

After Rin kissed him, Sousuke was at sea. He didn’t know what to do with his hands, so he busied himself with clearing the counter, scraping out the bits of food into the trash, washing the dishes. He didn’t look at Rin. He didn’t check to see what he was doing. 

He was angry at Rin, he was pretty sure he was supposed to be. 

 

Rin was wandering around, eyes glued to his phone. He hovered over the counter for a while, getting in Sousuke’s way before he moved on with a disdainful sigh. 

After Sousuke was finished, he found Rin blocking the way to his bedroom, still on his phone. Without raising his eyes from the screen, he extended his arm across the rest of the hallway, forcing Sousuke to stop and look at him. 

Wearily, Sousuke said, “What do you want _now_ , Rin?” 

“Your eternal love and devotion,” Rin said nonchalantly, putting his phone away. “But your presence in my bed tonight would be a good start.”

“That’s not the kind of relationship we have, despite what some of the guys think down at the station. We agreed to that, a long time ago.” 

“Tell me you didn’t want me to kiss you tonight and I’ll never do it again.” 

Rin had taken off his uniform and stood before him in just a tank top and his boxers. His skin looked bruised but luminous. He’d been a great swimmer, in high school, but not good enough to turn pro. He still worked out, just like Sousuke did. He was still so beautiful that it hurt to look at him sometimes. 

To touch him -- it would be fatal. 

Which was why Sousuke did it, he thought. He was stronger than Rin, always had been since he grew into his big frame. He rarely used it against Rin, which was probably why Rin’s eyes widened as Sousuke pushed him against the wall. Sousuke felt a spike of pain, hot and throbbing, cut through his shoulder to his chest, but he didn’t let Rin go. 

“Yeah,” Sousuke spat out. “I wanted you to kiss me. I’ve always wanted that, because I’ve been in love with you since I was seventeen years old. And you _knew_ that. And you never did a fucking thing about it until now. Why? Because you thought since I almost died, you should reward me somehow?” 

He pushed against Rin, grinding against him. He rubbed Rin’s cock through the thin material of his boxers. Rin was breathing heavily as he did, but once Sousuke’s hand touched his cock, he bucked his hips towards Sousuke, a sharp moan cutting off whatever he was trying to say. 

“One pity fuck for your poor sap of a best friend, huh?” Sousuke whispered harshly into Rin’s arm. Rin writhed against him and Sousuke felt his wiry strength against him. Not fighting him, but coiled around him. Ready to act. “Not even a fuck. A _kiss._ What should I do with that kiss, Rin? Will it feed me? Can it protect me from a bullet? Is it going to make up for the fucking years you’ve spent jerking me around? For leaving me for something _better_?” 

“Sousuke, I …” Rin’s voice was shaken and Sousuke stepped away from him with a bitter laugh. 

“Listen. I don’t want it -- your pity or your guilt, whatever this is. If our friendship meant so little to you, that’s fine, but don’t expect me to put up with it.” 

Rin seemed to gather himself up for a moment, before he flashed Sousuke a razor-sharp smile. “Sometimes I forget that you can be cruel.” 

“Yeah,” Sousuke said. “You forgot a lot about me.” 

“Spare me the self-pity,” Rin snapped. “You’re hurt I left you? _So?_ I came back here for you! You could’ve left too, Sousuke. You could’ve done it --” 

“No,” Sousuke gritted out. “I couldn’t have.” 

“You fucking crushed your own potential, you were the one who gave up your dream! And you blame me? Fuck you!” 

“Oh. So you coming here was just -- what? A mission of mercy, right? You just wanted to pull me out of my sad, sad life? Such a friend. What a saint. Don’t give me that shit. You’re not the only one who can research people. I know what happened to Amakata, your _partner_ , I know you couldn’t protect her. And then you resigned before they could kick you out --” 

Sousuke anticipated the punch, expected it. He didn’t move away and felt the impact of Rin’s fist against his face with something like satisfaction. But then he stumbled and hit the wall, injured shoulder first. 

He screamed, the pain ripping into him. He felt Rin grab him as he went down, cursing as he did so. “You dumb fuck, you complete _idiot_ \-- where’s your meds? When was the last time you took them?” 

“In the bag -- bedside table -- don’t remember,” Sousuke said, gasping. He stayed down as Rin stepped over him and went into his bedroom. He came back a few minutes later with the pills and a bottle of water. One thing about Rin -- his hands were absolutely steady as he handed over the pills and water to Sousuke, who swallowed it all down with a shaky gulp. 

“I have to check your shoulder,” Rin said, not looking at him. 

“Do whatever you like,” Sousuke said, letting Rin pull him closer and peel off his shirt. He was mildly surprised to see small patches of blood on the shoulder of the shirt. Rin tightened the bandages without saying anything, his hands cool against Sousuke’s burning skin. 

Finally, Rin rose. “You’ll live.” 

“Geez, exactly what I wanted,” Sousuke said, and blinked when he saw that Rin was holding out his hand for him. He hesitated for a moment before he grabbed it and pulled himself up with a groan. His entire body ached, but the pain had decreased to a manageable level. He felt his anger dissipate into nothing, just another emptiness. 

He couldn’t look at Rin. As he walked into his room, he heard Rin call his name behind him, softly, and then stop when Sousuke didn’t respond.

*

He didn’t sleep well that night, and rolled out of bed at five in the morning. His reflection on the bathroom mirror was wild -- he looked crazy, and it wasn’t just the bruise on his cheek or his wild hair that gave that impression. Well. So what? He brushed his teeth, shaved, nicked his chin, bled. 

When he was going back to his room to change for his run, he glanced into Rin’s room and saw that the bed was empty and unslept in. No one was in the kitchen or living room either. This was a good thing, Sousuke decided. 

His run was uneventful. But when he was turning back home, a dog came rushing out of a darkened alley, which made him flinch. But it rushed away from him, something leaking red in its mouth.

_Keep going. It’s nothing. Keep going._

He groaned and went in. It was fairly shallow alley, behind a ramen shop and a medical supply store. A big dumpster obscured the end of it, but Sousuke didn’t have to go far to see a pair of feet sticking out from the other side of the dumpster. Expensive trousers, no shoes, no socks. He picked his way out of the alley and called the station. 

A sleepy-eyed Iwashimizu and Kirishima showed up about fifteen minutes later, the lights of their squad car flashing, though the alarm was off. 

“Can’t stay out of trouble, eh, Yamazaki?” Kirishima said, too cheerful given the hour and the circumstances. Sousuke crossed his arms over his chest and looked at him. Both Iwashimizu and Kirishima dawdled at the end of the alley before they went in. They were out again in a few minutes, Kirishima covering his mouth and Iwashimizu looking decidedly green around the gills. 

Kirishima took Sousuke’s statement, again, while Iwashimizu got the station on the line to request the forensics. “We might need to take you in for more questions,” Kirishima said and Sousuke sighed, feeling his sweat drying, his shirt glued to his chest.

In the end, he didn’t need to go to the station -- just had to answer questions from the increasing number of police officers, not all of whom he recognized. Iwatobi hadn’t had a murder in years, and even then it had been a domestic abuse incident that had escalated. 

Finally, he was allowed to leave, and he made his way back to the apartment. He didn’t expect Rin to be there, but he was, drinking tea in the kitchen, a plate of toast in front of him. He raised his eyebrow at Sousuke’s sweaty, tired condition. “I thought you must’ve run back to Sano, the time you took.” 

“There was a body in the alley behind the ramen shop -- I had to called it in,” Sousuke said, reaching for a piece of toast. Rin slapped his hand away, frowning. 

“A body? What are they thinking?” 

“Murder, unless someone can rip his own throat out by accident,” Sousuke said. He sighed, taking off his shirt, glad to finally do it. Rin groaned, but he ignored him. “I’m taking a shower.” 

“Please,” Rin said, and nothing else. 

After his shower, it was almost time for him to get down for his interview anyway. He ironed his spare uniform in between eating breakfast and saw that Rin, already dressed and fed, was waiting for him. 

“Rin, about last night...” he began awkwardly, but Rin shook his head. 

“We don’t have to talk about it. Best to bottle everything up until it explodes. Right, Sousuke?” 

“That’s what you’re doing right now, is it?” 

Rin looked at him then, amusement flinting across his face. “I mean what I said, you know.” 

Sousuke bristled. “So did I --” 

“I mean, I want you.” 

To have this stated so baldly almost took Sousuke’s breath away. He concentrated on making sure his creases were perfect, frowning slightly. “Don’t make fun of me. Not about this.” 

“I’m not!” Rin made an explosive sigh. “What would convince you?” 

“The meeting’s in a half-an-hour,” Sousuke said briskly. “We have to talk about this later.” 

“Will we?” For the first time, Rin sounded uncertain. Sousuke looked at him and their eyes locked onto each other. 

“Yeah,” Sousuke said. “We’ll have to, won’t we? We can’t go on like this.” 

“No, we can’t,” Rin agreed, and took a sip of his tea. 

*

The meeting was a blur. Sousuke sat down, kept his head up, his eyes forward. Said yes when he needed to, say no when he needed to. Agreed that he had decided to accompany Officer Matsuoka, against department policy, on an unofficial mission and thus had sustained an injury that now incapacitated him. 

“Temporarily,” he said and his interrogator blinked at him. 

“What?” 

“I’m temporarily incapacitated, but my doctors have expressed the belief that I will be able to make a full recovery.” 

“That shoulder’s never going to get back to normal,” said another officer. 

“A new normal, then,” Sousuke said, evenly. 

“I see Matsuoka’s rubbed off on you,” said the original speaker. His name was printed on a brass-colored nameplate, but Sousuke couldn’t quite make it out. “Not a compliment, young man.” 

Aping contrition, Sousuke caste his eyes down. “My apologies, sir.” 

“You informed Mikoshiba that you wanted to return to work as soon as possible. Why is that?” 

“I’m anxious to be of use,” Sousuke said. That was true, as far as that went. 

*

A week later, Sousuke reported back to work. He was assigned desk-duty, until further notice. He had been expecting this (had asked for this) but it still annoyed him. First, he had to set out to make his desk useable. It was covered with papers, not all of them relevant to crime-solving. He shoved the upteenth restaurant flyer into the trash when he saw Rin pass by his desk, with his new partner following him like a lost puppy. 

Shigino was close to their age, but newly recruited and instantly recognizable by the bright pink fluff of hair on the top of his head. Even with the hat, he was stood out. Sousuke tried not to give him a too vindictive look. But Shigino noticed him looking and came over to introduce himself. 

“I know who you are,” Sousuke said, his eyes trained down to the file he was flipping through. 

“You don’t need to worry about Matsuoka,” Shigino said earnestly. “I’m sure we’ll get on well, and I've got his back.” 

“Just take care of yourself,” Sousuke said, annoyed that the kid couldn’t seem to take the hint to leave. 

“Shigino!” Rin called out and Shigino whipped quickly around to leave, causing some papers to fall to the floor. He swooped down to get them, but Sousuke told him, a little sternly, to leave. 

Shigino deposited the papers back onto Sousuke’s desk, and left with an airy wave.

It wasn’t until later, as Sousuke was finally finished sorting through his desk -- he was surprised to learn that the original top was made of wood -- that he noticed a piece stuck out from under the telephone.

He pulled it out and saw that there was a blue-inked drawing of a butterfly on it. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, this is still a _Future Fish_ AU, and some stuff is coming down the line that you might recognize. ~~I'm working my way to mermaids.~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has some Sousuke/Kisumi in the middle.
> 
> It's basically one-sided (but on which side?? Read on to find out) and consequences of it are felt through the rest of the story. I took off the relationship tag because I didn't really want this to be the first hit for people earnestly looking for some SouKisu content. 
> 
> For those people I say: watch this space. I'm working on it. I actually love it a lot, and I'm incredibly fond of Kisumi, that little homewrecker. /jk

There were certain days that Sousuke was sure he was going to die from boredom. Now that he was stuck on desk duty, he was able to clear out of the station by six o’clock in the evening and be home by six-thirty. By seven, he was finished with dinner, and by eight he was falling asleep in front of his laptop. 

This was what creeping middle-age felt like, he was sure. 

He didn’t see Rin often enough to talk -- it seemed that most of Rin’s time was taken up with training Shigino, patrolling with Shigino, and generally being with Shigino as much as possible. Sousuke hadn’t told him about finding the butterfly drawing on his desk, because it seemed like such a stretch. He couldn’t prove Shigino had put it there, couldn’t prove that Shigino had anything to do with the Butterfly at all. 

Speaking of which -- it seemed clear to Sousuke that the department had completely stopped pursuing leads on the Butterfly all together, with all the focus now on catching the murderer that was on the loose. Three more bodies had been found in the last month or so. There didn’t seem to be much a connection between the victims. The first one -- the man Sousuke had found -- was a local businessman who had fallen on hard times, with gambling debts up to his eyeballs. If not for the gruesome manner of his death, it might have looked like a suicide. 

But then, a week later, another body turned up, this time near the docks. A woman, middle-aged and respectable, was found in an alley, her throat ripped open. Then, six days later, another man was spotted by some children, lying face-down on the beach. And finally, just yesterday, a woman had been reported missing, only to be found dead a few miles down the beach from where the third body had been recovered. 

The city council and local businesses were putting considerable pressure on the police to solve these crimes, fast. And that was fair enough -- Iwatobi could hardly attract carefree beachgoers from the city if there was a murderer running around, killing without rhyme or reason. Law enforcement from other jurisdictions and even the national police poured into the station, upsetting whatever balance had been there before. 

Sidelined from all the action, Sousuke was forced to observe and come to his own, unofficial, conclusions. For the murders, he wasn’t sure about anything. He was doing some of the grunt work of the investigations, checking alibis of the family and co-workers of the victims, as if everyone wasn’t aware that this was a work of a serial killer. He was itching to get out there, to interview suspects for real, but he no longer had that option. 

So he sat there and made calls.

Filed. 

Stewed in his own juices. 

As for the Butterfly -- Sousuke and Rin had long suspected that the Butterfly had a protector high up in the chain of command -- or else political official that had enough influence for the same effect. They had speculated on who that person could be, but had no evidence to back it up. 

It seemed that all attempts at investigation into the Butterfly’s activities had been thwarted thus far, and it was frustrating to the extreme. If only Sousuke and Rin could have at least investigated on their own… But no, that was impossible too, after what had happened last month. 

Sousuke missed Rin. 

That was obvious and painful. He seemed to move through the world now with a piece of himself that was missing, and that piece was his friendship with Rin. His love for Rin. He wasn’t deluded, nor was he so in denial to realize that what he felt for Rin was just friendship -- it hadn’t been for a long, long time. 

And then he’d had to go blundering in and ruined a chance to make it something more. And he had ruined their friendship too, something he valued more than his own life, in the same stroke. There were times that Sousuke could not stand himself, and this was one of them. 

His phone buzzed, a reminder popped onto the screen. He had a physiotherapy appointment in an hour. Mechanically, Sousuke finished up his paperwork and gathered up his things. The sun was out that afternoon, and it was hot and muggy by the time he’d arrived at the outpatient center. Spring was fast giving away to summer. 

Sousuke tried to stay engaged throughout his appointment -- his therapist was a calm young man with an unshakable faith in his patients, and easy to talk to -- but found himself becoming impatient, longing to go home and see Rin. 

It was stupid, he thought, he shouldn’t be so dependent on Rin for his emotional well-being, especially now. 

“You’re impatient this afternoon,” said Serizawa with a cheerful smile as they were finishing up. “Do you have plans later?” 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be distracted,” Sousuke said stiffly. He was sweating, as if he'd run a mile instead of spending an hour doing some rather slow and deliberate exercises, led by Serizawa. His therapist gave him a warm, understanding look. 

“It's all right to be distracted, Sousuke. And you're doing well -- but you have to remember that recovery is a long process and …” 

“And it's never going to go back to the way it was. I know.” Sousuke sighed heavily. 

Serizawa nodded to himself. “Yamazaki, please listen. I want you to do something fun tonight. As long as it's not too physically taxing that is -- you're under doctor’s orders, after all.”

“Thank you,” Sousuke said as he left. He didn’t think it would be too much of a strain to fall asleep watching a drama, but he didn’t want to disappoint Serizawa about the truth of his boring life. 

He was hurrying out of the outpatient center when he heard someone calling his name. He thought about just walking away, but then heard his name again. Reluctantly, he turned to see who it was and saw Tachibana Makoto jogging toward him, a genial smile on his face. 

Makoto had been a good friend of Rin’s in high school and he and Sousuke had a positive, though distant kind of relationship then. 

Now, Makoto was a fireman, and one of the few people besides Sousuke himself who took the yearly joint police/fire practice exercises even remotely seriously, and they would sometimes go for drinks afterward. 

“How are you, Sousuke? Did you get my flowers all right? I went to see you, but the nurses told me you were sleeping and I didn’t want to wake you,” said Makoto, sounding a little harried. 

“I’m fine,” Sousuke said, massaging the back of his neck. He felt vaguely uncomfortable under Makoto’s benign, green gaze. They were about the same height, so Sousuke couldn’t quite intimidate him as he would other people, but Makoto was such a transparently _wholesome_ person that Sousuke felt a little bad for even trying. 

“And Rin?” 

“He’s also fine. What are you doing here?” 

“My sister, Ran, broke her arm -- playing basketball, if you can believe it -- a few months back. I bring her to her physiotherapy appointments sometimes.” 

“That's nice of you. Well, I’ve got to go --” 

“Hold on!” Makoto began to dig in his pocket and pulled out a restaurant flyer and handed it to him. “A friend of mine is having a soft launch for his seafood restaurant later this month -- would you come and bring Rin with you? It would mean a lot!” 

Sousuke frowned at it. “I’m not that fond of seafood…” 

“You’re more of a meat-eater,” Makoto said, smiling. “I remember. But still, it would be a pretty easy date night for you and Rin.” “Date night?” Sousuke said, flustered. “But we’re not -- that’s not -- Well, I’ll ask Rin, see what he thinks.” 

“Thank you!” On impulse, Makoto leaned in and gave Sousuke a quick hug. “I’m sorry for taking liberties like this,” he said quickly, letting go of Sousuke’s stiff body with a laugh. “But I _am_ glad you’re alive!” 

“Thank you, Makoto,” Sousuke said, sincerely. “We will try to be there.” 

Makoto gave him a quick smile and they parted. 

*

The door to Sousuke and Rin’s apartment was open, just slightly. Sousuke sighed, dropping his keys back into his pocket and opened the door. “Rin? Ma? What have I told you about leaving the door open?” 

Inside, the TV was on and Shigino, of all people, was sitting on the couch in the living room. He looked up when Sousuke came in and smiled. “Hello!” he said brightly. “Did Rin come back with you?” 

“Did Rin … leave you here?” Sousuke said cautiously. He set down the grocery bags on the table and took out his phone. Still keeping an eye on Shigino, he fired off a text to Rin. 

_**Me:** Shigino is in the apartment. _

Shigino nodded. “He said he’d be back in five minutes, about half-an-hour ago. I was actually about to leave, as soon as this show ends.” He gestured vaguely to the TV, where a loud challenge-type game show was happening. A contestant, wrapped bright colored protective foam, fell off a high ledge and was left dangling by a wire as the audience laughed. 

It figured that Shigino would like those kind of shows. 

Sousuke’s phone chimed in his hands and he looked down at it. 

_**Rin:** keep him there. _

 

Sousuke tsked while reading Rin’s text. Then he looked up and saw that Shigino was looking at him, his face a genial sort of mask, one that gave nothing away. Sousuke forced himself to smile. “So, can I get you some tea? Water? A snack?” 

Shigino leaned against the couch with a grin. “I’ll take a beer if you have it.”

“It’s not that kind of visit, Shigino,” Sousuke said, heading into the kitchen, bringing the food with him. He stowed the eggs in the fridge and the rice in the cupboard before grabbing two bottles of beer from the fridge and brought them out to the living room. 

He offered one to Shigino, who accepted it with a smile. 

“Please call me Kisumi,” he said. “Yeah, yeah, go ahead and make your joke. It’s not my fault, you know? My parents picked it.” 

“Why would I make a joke about your name? That’s asinine,” Sousuke said, sitting down next to him. “I’d rather make fun of your hair.” 

“What’s wrong with my hair? It’s also natural! Do you make fun of Matsuoka for having red hair?” 

“He’s had the same hair since he was a kid. I’m used to it by now,” Sousuke said dismissively. 

“Well, so have I!” Kisumi said, laughing. “My little brother, Hayato, has the same kind of hair. He always complains about when I comb it, however.” 

He took out his phone and showed Sousuke pictures of himself and young boy -- they were obviously brothers, although the color of hair and eyes between the two of them were slightly different, though not enough to be worth remarking on. Hayato looked almost afraid of the camera, and in most of the shots, seemed to be doing his best to hide behind his laughing older brother. 

 

“Do you take care of your brother a lot?” Sousuke said, sipping at his beer. 

Kisumi nodded. “I’m his guardian, actually. Our parents died when that big typhoon hit three years ago -- their car was swept to sea. Hayato was so young when it happened that sometimes I don’t think he really remembers them, but I try to keep their memory alive.” 

“I’m sorry,” Sousuke said, feeling a little lame. What could he say that would be adequate? He remembered the storm, of course -- he’d been at his parents’ place in Sano when it had hit, and being more inland, the effects hadn’t been so bad. But driving back to Iwatobi had been shocking. Kisumi’s parents were not the only fatalities. 

“I would do anything for Hayato,” Kisumi continued on, thoughtfully. “That’s why I got into the police force -- it’s steadier work than waiting tables.” 

“True enough. My dad was a cop for a long time,” Sousuke said. “When I was growing up, I thought there could be no better job. I really looked up to him…” 

Kisumi looked at him consideringly, until his expression cleared. “You’re Yamazaki Shigeru’s son! I thought I recognized you -- you look a lot like your dad! He came to our high school once and gave a speech about moral responsibility once, when he was running for mayor.” 

“Yeah, that’s him,” Sousuke said awkwardly. His father’s abortive political career had peaked during his last year of high school. It had been something of an embarrassment when he was younger (and if he was being honest, it was still one now), but after a failed campaign to be mayor, the elder Yamazaki had mostly gotten out of politics and opted to run his wife’s family business instead. 

(Although it never stopped him from giving Sousuke all sorts of bothersome advice on his own career in the force.) 

Sousuke knew well enough that he couldn’t lower his guard against Kisumi and thus had been nursing his drink while they talked. He was dismayed, then, when Kisumi took the bottle out of his hands and shook it. “It’s almost full,” Kisumi said reprovingly, his eyes full of mischief. “Are you not much of a drinker?” 

“This is Rin’s beer, I don't really care for it,” Sousuke muttered, looking down. 

“Hmm,” Kisumi said, looking at the bottle. He then downed the whole thing quickly, and Sousuke watched his throat work, fascinated despite himself. 

Kisumi sighed after he was finished and eyed Sousuke speculatively. 

“I know I’m not Rin, but --,” he said as he climbed on to Sousuke’s lap and kissed him. Kisumi wasn't much like Rin at all, though they did have some slight resemblance when it came to their slim but muscular frames. Kisumi’s eyes were violet, like some old fashioned movie star. 

It was strange to keep looking into these eyes. 

And as for that kiss… Sousuke hadn't expected this at all. He shifted in his seat, almost throwing Kisumi off the couch. Sousuke grabbed Kisumi’s arm, to steady him. 

“I'm not with Rin,” Sousuke said, matter-of-factly. 

Kisumi pulled a wry face. “I know.” 

“You seem know a lot. About us.” 

“I have really great deductive skills,” Kisumi said, a touch smugly. “Am I in the right business or what?” 

“You don't need that for writing out parking tickets.” 

“Ouch. But I have hopes for advancement,” Kisumi said, his mouth hot against Sousuke’s ear. “Fuck, I love it when you watch us across the bullpen. You’re so hot. Let's do it.” 

“Uh,” Sousuke said intelligently. He could count with one hand how many times he'd had sex in this apartment. It had never felt right to bring people back here, when Rin was around. He didn't want Rin to see that side of himself. But now, in a reversal, here was Rin’s new partner, literally sitting on his lap, begging for it. 

And Sousuke was … tempted. _Sorely_ tempted. All the frustration and disappointment from the last month or so threatened to pour out of him, with Kisumi as a convenient target. 

It wasn't fair. But still --

Sousuke reached down and unzipped Kisumi’s fly and pushed down his underwear until his cock, already wet with pre-come. Sousuke thumbed at the the tip of it, thoughtfully. Kisumi’s cock was almost as pretty as the rest of him, and almost as pink as his hair. Sousuke found himself smirking up at Kisumi, who unexpectedly blushed. 

He gestured to Kisumi to switch their positions. Sousuke slid down to the floor and pressed his face against the fabric of the couch for moment before he took Kisumi’s cock into his mouth. He hadn't had much time to suck at all when the lights flickered on -- they'd let the room grow dark around them -- and Rin made a noise, something in between a sigh and snort of laughter.

“Geez, your timing is the worst, Matsuoka,” Kisumi said, pouting, as Sousuke pulled away and pushed himself off the floor. Sousuke watched Rin, who had his arms crossed in front of him, a distinctly unimpressed look in his eye. 

“Sorry to interrupt,” Rin said, sounding as if he was anything but. “Don't let me keep you.” 

“That's all right,” Sousuke said, interrupting him. He brushed off the dust on the front of his pants. “I'll see you soon, Shigino.” 

“That's a dismissal if I've ever heard one,” Kisumi said cheerfully, springing up and gathering his coat and hat. He gave Rin a mocking salute as he headed for the door. “Goodbye, senpai.” 

“Good night,” Rin said, closing the door behind him. 

After Kisumi’s steps retreated down the hall, Rin have Sousuke a nod. Silently, they swept the apartment for bugs. In next thirty minutes, Sousuke was able to find a lost power cord and also his ID card for the gym, which he’d had to get replaced and deactivated. No bugs. 

Rin had a little better luck, he found one tucked under the mattress of his bed. 

“The little shit,” he said, a little ruefully as soon as he crushed the listening device under his feet. He looked up at Sousuke, who was hovering around the doorway. “Surprised?” 

“Not so much,” Sousuke said, and described the drawing of the butterfly he had found at his desk on Kisumi’s first day at the station. 

Rin raised his brows. “Subtle is not his forte, is it? But still, putting this under my bed was kind of low. What of information was he planning on getting?” 

“How should I know? You’re the one who left him here,” Sousuke said, feeling stupidly disappointed. He came into Rin’s room and stood at the foot of his bed. He knew that if he wasn’t welcome, Rin would tell him. 

But Rin only snickered and said, “You’re the one who has his cock in your mouth when I came in.”

“And you’re the one who told me to keep him there,” Sousuke shot back. 

Rin ignored him, turning his attention to his bed. He straightened the sheets and put blankets and pillows back into their proper place. Then he promptly ruining that by throwing himself on to the bed with a groan. He pushed his hair out his face and looked up at the ceiling. “Fuck, I’m tired.” 

“Rin, we need to talk,” Sousuke said urgently. He needed to tell him -- 

Rin reached out and grabbed his hand, pulling him inexorably towards the bed. He let go as soon as Sousuke sat next to him. Rin rolled over and sighed. “Do you remember when we used to swim relay? There was no need for talking there. We let our bodies do it for us.” 

His hair had fallen into his eyes again. Sousuke leaned in to push it away. Gently, he said, “That’s the old romantic swimming maniac I remember.” 

Rin stared at him for a moment. “Will you freak out if I try to kiss you again?” 

Sousuke bristled a little at his question. “I didn’t freak out before.” 

“Ha. You went absolutely apeshit.” 

“Because you were being a cocky little asshole.” 

“But I’m always like that,” Rin said, with a smug grin. Sousuke found himself grinning back. Rin sat up and kissed him, hard, his teeth nipping against Sousuke’s lips. 

Sousuke groaned into Rin’s mouth, his raw _want_ spilling out of him, visible for all to see. But the only person watching was Rin, who was smiling, pleased at Sousuke’s reaction. 

“You do want me then,” Rin said, when the kiss was over. He crossed his legs and then uncrossed it. He looked like he was trying to seem casual, but he only succeeded in looking a little awkward. 

“I've always wanted you. It's embarrassing,” Sousuke said, regretting this already. 

But Rin only huffed in amusement and pushed him onto the bed. He reached over him and yanked open the drawer of his bedside table and grabbing a bottle of lube and condom. “Cherry flavored?” he asked, with an impudent grin and Sousuke wanted to bite him (though biting was really more Rin’s thing.) 

“You don’t have anything more plain?” 

“Sousuke, you’re lucky you’re so hot, because boy are you _boring_ \--”

He did bite Rin then, sucking a hickey into the creamy skin of Rin’s neck. Rin couldn’t quite contain his squeal as Sousuke’s teeth closed over his skin, enough though he would deny making that noise to his dying day.

Sousuke had too many clothes on. So did Rin. It was ridiculous, and he was all the more determined to take all of it off, all these distractions, all these barriers from his skin and Rin’s. He peeled off his shirt and threw it on the floor and tried sliding out of his pants while staying as close to Rin as possible. Rin had already mostly undressed, had done it so quickly that Sousuke was a little bewildered at his speed. 

“Careful about your shoulder,” Rin muttered, pressing his lips against the scar where the bullet had torn through Sousuke’s shoulder. Sousuke shuddered at his touch, and wanted more of it, wanted all of it. 

So when Rin looked at him, his eyes dark except for flashes of ruby against the slanted light coming in through the window, and said that he wanted to ride him, Sousuke could only gasp and say _yes, yes, yes._

Rin prepped himself, taking Sousuke’s fingers and covering them with lube and guiding them to his hole, which twitched and swallowed up Sousuke’s fingers up eagerly. That Rin was experienced with anal sex wasn't much of a surprise, and Sousuke would have been bashful over his own painful lack of it, except Rin seemed to take especial pleasure over teaching him. 

“Next time, I'm going to fuck you,” he said, and groaned. 

Sousuke had found a steady pace, fingering him open. His mouth went dry at the image of it and he nodded, then thought better of it. “Will there be a next a time?” 

“Of course there will be, idiot,” Rin said, tightening his thighs around Sousuke’s hips. “What, do you want to stop?” 

“No, never,” Sousuke said, his voice shaking. 

Rin gave him the smuggest smile. Sousuke’s heart beat painfully in his chest. He had never loved Rin more. 

The condom Rin slipped easily onto Sousuke’s painfully hard cock, and the applied more lube on it. Then, with less prep than he would have expected, Rin clambered on Sousuke’s lap and began to sink onto his cock, making deep little breaths all the while. Sousuke was still, almost too awed to move. Rin felt so good around him, hot and tight, gloriously so. 

But he felt Rin move against him, and that proved too much of a temptation. Sousuke thrust up, moving his hips with Rin’s. 

They were in tandem and that was perfect. 

*

“Sousuke, wake up,” Rin said, shaking him awake. Sousuke blinked awake and stared in confusion at the clock on the bedside table. It read 3:30 AM. Too early for even a morning jog. 

“What’s up, Rin?” 

“I want show you something you’ve never seen before,” Rin said, a strange light in his eyes. He pressed against Sousuke, his cock hard against Sousuke’s thigh. 

“Man, I’ve seen your cock a million times,” Sousuke said, turning away from him and pulling the blankets with him. 

Rin sighed loudly and sat up, turning on the light. “It’s not that.” 

“Ugh,” Sousuke said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He looked at Rin suspiciously. Rin looked entirely too awake, given the earliness of the hour. He’d even managed to get his hair into some semblance of order. 

Seriously, Sousuke said, “Rin … You aren’t the murderer, are you?” 

“What?” Rin glared at him. “Quit fooling around and come on.” 

Fifteen minutes later, they were in Rin’s car, with a packet of raw chicken in the back, heading for the beach. Sousuke had protested when Rin grabbed the chicken from the fridge -- he’d been planning cook that later -- actually he was _planning_ to start cooking, any day now -- but his protests had been greeted by complete indifference on Rin’s part. 

It was raining by the time they came to the beach, a light mist that soaked through Sousuke’s cap and dripped down his neck. They walked down the path to beach, where the tide was high, with only a narrow strip of sand was showing. 

It was beautiful -- the moon was still high enough in the sky to cast silvery shadows on the beach. Sousuke turned to Rin and asked, “Is this what you wanted to show me?”

“Shh. Look over there --” Rin pointed to a spot that was maybe a fifty or so meters away from them, a bare patch of sand, with something sticking out of it. Sousuke squinted, barely making it out in the gloom. It was -- purple? An purple blob, with what looked like a heart-shaped stalk sticking out of the middle of it.

“Is that a kids’ toy? Did you bring me out here to look at trash on a beach?” 

Rin gave him a narrow look and got out the chicken from its packet. “Watch! But stay back!” he said, began to run towards the shape. Sousuke swore under his breath, and raced after him. Had Rin suddenly gone insane? 

Rin stopped short about ten meters from the thing and tossed the chicken to it. Sousuke, who was expecting nothing, gasped as a -- _tentacle_ \-- stretched from the top of the thing’s head and grabbed the chicken. It tore the thing to shreds and the heart-shaped end seemed to absorb the flesh, bones, skin and all. 

Then it turned its attention to them, and Sousuke saw a large, singular eye blink at them. As quick as anything, Rin lurched forward shot at it -- but it was a gun Sousuke had never seen before. And instead of shooting bullets, it seemed to freeze the creature. Rin approached the creature and nudged it with the toe of his boot, but it didn’t move. He brought out a bag from inside his jacket and scooped it inside. 

“Rin,” Sousuke said, “what the fuck is this.” 

“Sousuke,” Rin said, “that is an alien. Now, have you seen anything like that before?” 

“Never in my life.” 

“So, there you are,” Rin said, with a smug grin. Sousuke stared at him in disbelief. 

“How can you be so … calm about this?” 

“Well, it’s a long story…” Rin checked his phone and swore under his breath. “C’mon, we have to get this thing back to the lab before our shift starts.” 

“What … lab?” 

But Rin was already jogging down the beach, towards his car, and Sousuke ran behind him. 

The car ride afterward was tense and all-too quiet. Rin seemed occupied with his own thoughts, and Sousuke had too many questions that were fighting to get out at the same time. Finally, he started with: “Rin, what exactly is going on here? How do you know about aliens?” 

Rin gave him a quick glance and smiled. “Well, you know, at my last job, I was required to travel around the world … It’s complicated, but I wasn’t actually catching criminals so much as phenomena like this. Three years ago, there was a spike in strange anomalies in this part of Japan, and since I’m something of a native, I was assigned here and I’ve been here since.” 

Sousuke took a moment to take it all in. “I just can’t believe this,” he said, almost to himself. 

Rin gave him a sympathetic look. “As soon as we’re done here, I’ll buy you some breakfast and explain.” He was driving down a darkened road, a place that Sousuke never before. A few minutes later, Rin stopped in front of an unmarked building and made a call. A few minutes later, floodlights opened in front of the building and a man came out and tapped against the driver’s side window. 

Rin rolled the window down and Sousuke saw Ryugazaki Rei peer into the car. 

“Do you have the sample?’ he asked Rin, who nodded. 

“In the back.” 

“What the actual hell is going on,” Sousuke said, but no one (yet) answered him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the slight delay in posting -- I was kind of occupied by Chocolate Box Exchange going live this week. From now on I'll aim to post a new chapter every Sunday afternoon. While I originally envisioned this WIP lasting for about six chapters, I'm not so sure anymore, especially given the slight genre shift. There's a lot of stuff to get through. 
> 
> Anyway, I'd love any comments or notes you might have for this story! Will Sousuke ever figure out what the fuck is happening in this crazy town? What's Rin's deal with Rei? Will Haru's restaurant opening go smoothly? Find out next time... 
> 
> And come talk to me here or at my [Tumblr](https://havisham.tumblr.com/). (Yes, I was trying to figure out how far Rin could throw the chicken. Farther than he ended up having to, anyway.)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey lookie what got an update! I was playing around with the notion of quietly discontinuing this story, but I decided it wouldn't fair for those of you who are still subscribed. So I decided to do a soft reboot instead -- a new title, new more descriptive summary, the same great flavor (?)
> 
> Anyway, this one's all for you guys. Thank you for your patience, and I hope you like this chapter.

Ryugazaki -- or Rei, as he had insisted on being called, although it was a privilege that Sousuke had firmly declined -- had been almost desperately eager to explain himself. Sousuke hadn't paid as much attention as he ought to have -- he was distracted by the wall of Ryugazaki’s lab, deep underground. The pure white wall has been slashed across and the bruised air hung over over them like a festering wound. 

That was what Ryugazaki called the breach. 

Sousuke felt something like fear when he first saw it, something that was manifestly impossible, something that -- if Ryugazaki was right -- was a doorway to another world. 

“Why did you do this?” Sousuke asked him, a question that proved irresistible. 

“Nagisa,” Ryugazaki began, his eyes bright. He cleared his throat, his face turning slowly red. “Nagisa was my friend and partner. He was always the one who pushed me in my research, asked questions I hadn't even thought of, who always took the risks I couldn't face. We discovered this breach together and Nagisa was the one who wanted to find out what was on the other side, no matter the cost.”

Sousuke looked again at the so-called breach -- a pulsing, rather bruised-looking patch of air that marred the smooth surface of the wall -- and shrugged. “I think I'll need more of an explanation. Seems like ripping a hole into reality would raise a few objections.” 

Rin’s elbow dug at his side, but he gave both Ryugazaki and Sousuke an impassive look when they turned to him. His face hadn't changed has since they'd gotten out of the car and trudged down (and down and down) to Ryugazaki secret underground lab. 

Or was it a bunker? Sousuke couldn’t quite decide. 

Ryugazaki huffed indignantly. “We didn’t think it would go that far! I admit, we were playing with things that we didn’t quite understand… Nagisa and I had been tracking strange phenomena in Iwatobi since high school. We pinpointed this location as the center of activity, the crux of everything strange in Iwatobi. When I started to make … a name for myself in the scientific community, I was able to build this lab from the ground up and devoted it to studying the breach and how to open it again.” 

He paused and adjusted his glasses. “Well, so to speak -- really, from the ground down, since most of it _is_ below the surface.” 

“That's really not what I wanted clarification on,” Sousuke said flatly. 

“Quit teasing him, Ryugazaki,” Rin said, with a small smile. “Tell him what you told me. Simple version first.” 

“Oh!” Ryugazaki said, and Sousuke could have sworn that he blushed. Well, Rin had that effect on people, that charismatic bastard. Sousuke harrumphed and focused back on Ryugazaki, who was looking nervously around, his eyes darting back and forth between the two of them, never really looking at either. He couldn't believe he'd found this man to be threatening, once upon a time. 

Ryugazaki tapped his long fingers together briefly and said, “The thing is, three years ago, Nagisa and I may have slightly broken reality. Just -- you know -- _slightly_.” 

“ _Slightly_ broken reality,” Sousuke said, hoping that his words were dripping with as much sarcasm and contempt as he felt. 

“In short, yes.” Ryugazaki had the audacity to look defiant. Then he went through what happened at rapid speed, speaking too quickly and with far more jargon than necessary. After years of trial and error, Ryugazaki and Nagisa had found a way to open the breach. Unsure what they would find there, they had devised a life-support system for Nagisa, if the drone they sent in first indicated that it would be safe enough to use it. 

At first, everything went according to plan. The breach opened, the drone entered it and the results it sent back were encouraging. Nagisa wanted to follow it immediately, but Ryugazaki advised caution. He wanted several more days of observation before he would consent to it. 

But they didn’t have a few days. They didn’t have any time at all.

The typhoon hit Iwatobi at the exact moment the breach opened. Though it was the season for typhoons, the size and the strength of it surprised almost everyone. The electricity went out and the backup generators wheezed back to life after a long delay. 

But Ryugazaki hardly needed the lights to come on to see that there was something coming through the breach. Something big. Something _strange_. He pressed the code to close it again, but to his surprise, Nagisa began to run towards the rapidly closing breach. 

“Nagisa! What are you doing?!” he shouted, trying desperately to stop him. 

But Nagisa only waved at him and said, cheerfully, “See you later, Rei-chan!” 

He jumped through the breach and it closed. And then it _stayed_ closed. 

Nothing Ryugazaki did could open it again. He became obsessed with it, refused to do anything that wasn’t related to getting Nagisa back. He was dropped from his fellowship and his funding fled. 

He had to turn to … other sources in order to keep going. 

“You --” Sousuke began to say, “I’m sorry that Hazuki died, but surely you --”

Ryugazaki was shaking his head. “No. You don’t understand. Nagisa isn’t dead, he just isn’t _here_.” 

“... What?” Sousuke looked at Rin, who shrugged. 

“Come here!” Ryugazaki said, grabbing Sousuke’s arm and dragging him to a bank of computers away from the breach-wall. He typed quickly into one of the keyboards, and suddenly all of the screens began to run biometric data, showing heart-rate, blood pressure, breaths per second -- anything, everything needed to indicate life. 

“We set this up before he went through,” Ryugazaki said softly, his eyes misty and his expression fond. “It’s been three years and he isn’t even hungry.” 

“That’s impossible,” Sousuke said flatly. 

“There’s literally a hole to another world in this room, Yamazaki,” Ryugazaki said roughly. “You might want to reconsider what is and is not possible.” 

“I don’t know that this data is from your partner,” Sousuke said.

Ryugazaki opened his mouth and closed it again. “No, you don’t. But I believe --” 

“You believe a lot of impossible things,” Sousuke snapped. “I’m amazed that you became a scientist at that.” 

“I am,” Ryugazaki said, with considerable dignity, “an excellent theoretician. Although, to be strictly honest, this was the first time one of my major experiments worked as it should.” 

He looked down now, his shoulders drooping. “And I -- I regret it, with every bone in my body. I have to make it right. I have to bring Nagisa _back!_ ” 

“Easy, Rei,” Rin said, touching his shoulder. Ryugazaki nodded, almost distractedly. Instead, he fixed his gaze on Sousuke. 

“How is the shoulder?” he asked suddenly. “Last time I saw you, you were bleeding from it quite profusely.” 

“Never better,” Sousuke said, rolling his shoulder as if to demonstrate. In fact, it had begun to ache again and he was acutely aware that his morning medication routine had been completely disregarded. He glared at Ryugazaki, who looked back him with a cool expression on his face. Considering. 

The absentminded scientist act was just that, Sousuke realized, an act meant to throw him off the scent. And it had almost worked too. If even half of the things Ryugazaki said were true, than he was a dangerous man indeed. 

“Rin,” Sousuke said softly, “why haven't you arrested him?” 

Rin glared at him, feeling the rebuke that Sousuke had meant to give, as well as something else. “Ryugazaki is not useful to us in a cell.” 

“And you think he's useful because he's -- what, feeding you bullshit about alternate universes and aliens and shit? I can't believe this. I can't believe _you_.” 

“God’s sake, he's using me to get at the Butterfly, you idiot,” Ryugazaki snapped, his face getting red. “I'm his supplier. All the drugs coming through Iwatobi goes through my lab. The Butterfly wouldn't be able to do anything without my help.” 

“So you're a meth-cooker, got it. Makes more sense than that stuff about lost love and sci fi bullcrap.” 

“Sousuke,” Rin said, “would you listen to me? Rei is going to help us catch the Butterfly. We catch the Butterfly and the murders stop.” 

“And what does _Rei_ get out of it?” 

“I need you,” Ryugazaki said, abruptly. “I need all the people changed by the storm to be here in order to reopen the breach. I need you to find those people and bring them to me.” 

“I'm not going to become a kidnapper for you,” Sousuke said scornfully. 

“There are seven people who were changed by the storm,” Ryugazaki said, “and three of them are here now.” 

“I wasn't changed by the storm,” Sousuke said, “I was in Sano.” 

“We’ll talk about that later,” Rin muttered, his eyes trained on his feet. 

An awkward silence stretched out between the three of them. 

Sousuke stuck his hands into his pockets and sighed. He didn't want to waste this chance. “So, you started working for the Butterfly to finance your operations here?” 

He hurt, all over. His head was throbbing and he desperately needed a drink. Or to sleep. Or maybe both of those things. 

Ryugazaki had the decency to look ashamed. “At first it wasn’t much. Just a job here, a job there. And the money … it poured in. I had more than enough to run things here for years on end. And in exchange, they asked for my … expertise. I wasn’t hurting anyone, I didn’t think, and I was trying to right a wrong. I know Nagisa would be disappointed in me, but I had to do _something_.” 

“But then the murders started,” Rin said, quietly. “And you contacted me.” 

Behind his red-framed glasses, Ryugazaki eyes flashed. “If they’re using _my_ creations to kill people, then I have to stop it.” 

“Those alien-things … are yours?” Sousuke said, at sea over the whole thing. 

“Um, no,” Ryugazaki said, twisting his hands together. “They came through the breach. A lot of things did.” 

“It’s not the aliens that are killing people, Sou,” Rin said, “It’s something else.” 

“You saw what it did to that chicken!” 

“An adult human isn’t a dead chicken! You saw the first body -- the throat had been ripped out. The Butterfly is --” 

“You don’t know that it’s connected.” 

“Okay, I don’t know that it’s connected. But Rei here is going to help us find out. We need your help, Sousuke. Please.” 

The way Rin was looking at him was entirely unfair. Even now, Sousuke felt his resolve waver. No one else could do this to him, no one could dare. He found himself slowly nodding, but before he could speak further, his phone rang. 

“You shouldn’t be able to get reception down here,” Ryugazaki said with a faint air of alarm. Sousuke picked up when he saw that it was his mother. 

“Sousuke, my dear! I wanted to catch you before you went to work. How are you? What are the doctors saying? You’re going to your physical therapy regularly, aren’t you?” His mother’s voice was breathy over the line, as if she had run some distance before picking up the phone. He knew she only sounded like that when she was nervous. 

And the only reason she would be nervous was if -- 

“Is father with you?” Sousuke asked carefully. 

“Yes, we’re having breakfast together. He’s very sorry that he couldn’t see you at the hospital. I thought we could all go to the opening of that new seafood restaurant in Iwatobi, just the three of us. What do you say?” 

Sousuke could hear the rustle of newspaper in the background, indicating that his father was listening. 

“I want to bring Rin,” Sousuke said, quickly, before he lost courage. 

“Eh? Your roommate, Rin? Well, you two are such good friends...” 

“No. My boyfriend Rin,” Sousuke clarified, loudly enough so he knew his father would hear. The elder Yamazaki had always needled him about why a man his age needed a roommate anyway. It was about time his father learned why.

The newspapers had stilled. His mother took a deep breath. 

Rin was staring at him in horror. 

“I-if that’s what you want,” his mother said uncertainly. “Of course we would like to meet him again.” 

“Good. I’ll see you then. Goodbye, mother, I love you. Give my regards to father.” Sousuke hung up quickly and swallowed the bile that had risen in his throat. Twenty-nine years of avoidance and denial, all ended in a three minute conversation. It was pretty amazing, if you thought about it. 

(Sousuke didn’t particularly want to talk about it.) 

“There is no way am I going to that restaurant opening from hell,” Rin said, his face flushed. 

“Come on, Rin. Don’t you want to support Makoto and his friend? What was his name again, the weird fish guy -- Nanase? Isn’t he your friend too?” 

“Don't pretend you don't know his name, you bastard! You've been introduced almost a dozen times now. But that's not the point --” 

“You said you loved me. Was that just a line?” 

“The things people say in bed shouldn’t be referred to so casually --” Rin was looking increasingly flustered. He scowled, his sharp teeth barred. “Sousuke, I’m going to kill you _._ ” 

“So you’re not coming?” 

“I … It’s a pain.” 

“Two birds, one stone.” 

“I _hate_ you.” 

“Liar.” 

“I’m going to be there too,” Ryugazaki said brightly. “Haruka-senpai’s dishes are remarkable. And dinner plans are always nice to look forward to!” 

He beamed at them, though his smile flagged when it wasn’t returned. 

*

Sousuke woke up to crashing of waves and the smell of coffee. A cup of it -- with a pastry balanced on top -- was sitting on the dashboard in front of him. Rin was slowly demolishing his own breakfast and caught his eye. 

“Better get ready,” he said with a grin. “We have to report to the station in half-an-hour.” 

“What the hell? What time is it?” 

“Quarter to eleven. I called in to tell them that you were sick and I was taking care of you. If anyone asks, you had food poisoning and was hugging the toilet all night.” 

“No one would believe that.” 

“I almost didn’t believe it myself, but as soon as we left Rei’s lab, you fell asleep in the car, Sleeping Beauty. I didn’t have the heart to wake you.” 

Sousuke looked down. He was still wearing his jogging clothes from the night before. “I don’t have my uniform.” 

“In the duffel in the back.”

It was cramped in the back of Rin’s car, especially for someone as tall as Sousuke. He banged his shins hard against the back of the seat until he had the bright idea to open one of the doors and stick out his legs and shimmy into his trousers. He caught Rin’s amused look on the rearview mirror. “Don’t look, you pervert!” 

“Isn’t that my line?” Rin said, flicking a lazy finger at him when Sousuke had finally clothed himself decently and came back to the front. He handed him a bottle of water and a tiny collection of toiletries -- a tube of toothpaste, a one-time use toothbrush, a bottle of mouthwash, and a comb. Sousuke didn’t question why Rin should have all of this on hand -- he had always been something of an over-planner. 

“So. You and Ryugazaki…” Sousuke began and Rin stilled, listening. “I didn't know you were friends with a mad scientist.” 

“He used to help me with my physics homework, I helped him with his swimming,” Rin said with a shrug, like these things happened all the time. Maybe they did, for Rin, who apparently far from the simple police officer Sousuke had imagined him to be even a few hours ago. 

“You understand that everything he told us is insane and absolutely not true, right?” Sousuke said slowly. “Everything we saw could have been special effects. He could work for some media company -- this could be some viral content, I don’t know. It’s not real.” 

Rin leaned across his seat and kissed Sousuke and gave him a small, secret smile. “That’s why I love you, Sousuke. You are so determined to be sane in an insane world.” 

“I don’t feel very sane right now,” Sousuke admitted. Rin nodded, giving him a troubled, sad look. 

“I know. I shouldn’t have brought you into this, I’m sorry. It’s just -- I wanted you with me.” 

“Don’t apologize for that, you idiot!” Sousuke snapped. 

Rin laughed and then looked at the time. He cursed under his breath and put the car in reverse, making Sousuke’s coffee, still sitting on dashboard sloosh backwards. Sousuke managed to grab it before it could make too much of a mess. Rin gunned the engine and they were off, leaving only a spray of sand and pebbles in their wake. 

*

The police station was like a ghost town. 

Not only were the officers from other jurisdictions and agents gone, but it seemed like more than half of the regular staff were also missing. Mikoshiba was waiting for them in the front, frowning at a report he had in his hand. He looked up when they approached and gave them a look that was both relieved and irritated. 

“I should be happy that you two weren’t part of the revolt,” he said, “but it really feels like someone removed my entire ass, but left two hernias intact.” 

“What happened, sir?” Sousuke said. 

“Hernias, really? I feel unloved, Captain,” Rin said, pouting. 

“You are _definitely_ unloved _\--_ ” Mikoshiba pointed at Rin. “Your goddamn rookie led a revolt, you know that? Half the officers tendered their resignations last night, citing deep departmental dysfunction. The superintendent is ready to roast my ass over an open flame for this -- this _embarrassing_ display.”

Mikoshiba turned as red as his hair, and he was yelling every word. 

“What about the others?” Sousuke persisted. 

Mikoshiba sighed. “There’s a break in the case -- they arrested a man two towns over who confessed to the killings. There was no reason for them to stay.” 

“A break, really?” Rin said, suddenly interested. “What’s the guy’s name? Did he give a reason why he did it? What connected the victims?” 

“Sir, who do we have left?” 

“Fuck if I know, Masuoka. They're not sharing information, and I don't have the resources to pursue it at the moment. Yamazaki, we have you, that idiot next to you, me, Kirishima, Iwashimizu, Hanamura and …” Mikoshiba looked a little shifty now. “Our returning intern from last summer.” 

“No,” Rin said, “don’t tell me --” 

“ _Senpai!_ ” shouted a blue-and-orange blur, which threw itself into Rin’s arms. Mikoshiba Momotarou gazed at Rin and asked excitedly, “Did you miss me?! I promised to come back, and Nii-san said that I could come _today_ , but when I drove in, I met this guy who laughed at me and said that you’d have to be a complete idiot to join the police today of all days, and I wanted to fight him but --” 

“Okay, Momo, that’s enough,” Rin said, patting the boy’s head absently. Momo smiled at him happily, before continuing to chatter away, a mile a minute. Something about a stag beetle mating season, the relevance of which Sousuke wasn’t willing to to ponder. 

“Momo will be handling the phones,” Mikoshiba said firmly. “Hanamura will be running the comms. Kirishima and Iwashimizu are already out patrolling.” 

“Sir, Matsuoka and I --” Sousuke said, hesitatingly. 

“Yeah, yeah, you’re partners again, congratulations. Now get your asses in the squad car and go. We’re getting calls from all over town. The shit’s about to fly.” 

“Nii-san, please let me go with them! I don’t wanna answer the phones!” Momo whined. 

Mikoshiba glared at him, a truly terrifying sight. Even Sousuke, who was pretty accomplished at keeping a straight face, winced at that. 

“If you don’t --” Mikoshiba said, his voice quiet and deadly, “sit in this desk and take the calls, and send the most important ones to Hanamura, I will personally kick your ass so far that you will be in the atmosphere.” 

Momo visibly wilted under the heat of his brother’s glare. 

“Sir, a word,” Hanamura said, popping up from behind a cubicle. She hurried toward them and said, “I want to go out there too. Momo can handle things here --” 

“My God, we need at least one experienced person who here to handle the comms, Hanamura, and it can’t be the damn intern. Now, I’m sorry that bloody bastard Minami quit --” 

“It has nothing to do with that!” Hanamura said, flushing. “You need backup too, Captain!” 

“She’s right, you know,” Rin said, folding his arms across his chest. Mikoshiba looked ready to bite off his head when Sousuke intervened. 

“We’ll take turns with the comms until Momo gets a handle on them,” he said. Rin glared daggers at him, but Mikoshiba nodded. 

“Okay. You’re up first, Yamazaki, Matsuoka.” 

Rin sighed loudly and kicked at Sousuke’s shins.

*

They spent the rest of the morning and the early afternoon showing Momo the ropes and taking calls as they came in. The kid was hyperactive and easily distracted, but he was also pretty earnest and obviously wanted to do right by his older brother and the rest of them. 

His community spirit was admirable -- it was just that the rest of him was suspect. 

Sousuke, half-way through taking information down about a possible black-market fish bait operation, suddenly heard a loud, indignant squeal behind him. He turned to see Rin and Momo engaged in a fierce and mostly quiet struggle with phone and a cup of tea. 

“What are you two --?” Sousuke never had a chance to finish that sentence, since right at that moment, the cup of tea escaped Rin’s clutches and hit him directly on the chest. If Sousuke didn't know better, he would have said it was thrown. 

The tea was relatively cold -- Rin never could make tea worth shit -- but nonetheless, Sousuke did feel slightly upset over the state of his uniform. He reached for a clump of tissues that he kept in his drawers, but before he could dry himself off, Rin had bounded over several desks over to him.

“Uh, sorry there, Yamazaki,” Rin said, brushing off some invisible dust on Sousuke’s shoulders. “Let's get you cleaned off.” 

“Yamazaki-senpai, I'm sorry, I really am,” said Momo, his bright yellow eyes wide and anxious. He looked genuinely afraid that Sousuke would let him have it. 

Sousuke, who was being dragged away by Rin, flapped his hand vaguely at Momo’s direction. “Uh, Momo, could you -- maybe look in the directory for some our retired staff -- I don't know why I didn't think of it when Mikoshiba was here, but some of them probably would be able to work the phones…?” 

“Good idea,” Rin muttered in his ear. 

Momo nodded eagerly. “I'll do it! Ah -- what directory?”

“We’ll be right back,” Rin said, pulling Sousuke along. 

Sousuke was actually surprised that they ended up in the bathroom and Rin actually took off his shirt and ran the most badly stained parts of it under the faucet. 

“I could've done it myself,” he said, trying to take the shirt from Rin, who jerked it out of his hands and and pushed him against counter. “Rin…?” 

Rin kissed him hard on his lips and grinded his hips against Sousuke’s. “I want you,” he breathed, in between sharp kisses that nipped at Sousuke’s bottom lip. 

They were so close that Sousuke could see the shadow of Rin’s lashes on his cheek and the spots of brown and gold in his eyes. He felt almost dizzy with desire -- or maybe just plain dizzy. Rin was like that. When he was around, Sousuke felt _more_ than he did with other people. 

This was both good and bad -- good because Rin made him feel more alive than anything else, and bad because -- shit, being alive meant being alive to everything. Pain, pleasure, fear and happiness. “I want you too,” Sousuke said, struggling to get the words out. “But we can’t leave Momo out there by himself.” 

Disconsolately, Rin rested his forehead against Sousuke’s good shoulder. “I know.” 

“Yeah. So, one blowjob should be okay, right? Settle down,” Sousuke said warningly as he slid down to his knees. Rin whined, a low noise at the back of his throat.

“I should be doing this for you,” he said, biting his lip. He looked ridiculously cute, but that didn’t stop Sousuke from glaring at him. 

“Why, because I’m crippled now? Fuck you,” Sousuke said with a smile, unzipping Rin’s fly and taking out his cock. 

“Don't be like that, asshole,” Rin said. He opened his mouth to say something more but quieted down the moment Sousuke’s tongue touched his cock. 

Sousuke took in the taste of it -- salt and strange, but not unpleasant. He didn’t have much time to get Rin off, so he used his tongue and his hands, working Rin over mercilessly until Rin was gasping and panting over him. 

In a few minutes, Rin came in his mouth and stared down at him with teary eyes. Sousuke swallowed and wiped off his mouth, smirking up at him. 

“You’re unbelievable,” Rin said, hauling him up. “Incredible.” 

“Of course,” Sousuke said. He dried off his shirt -- which they had left, wet and crumpled on the counter -- at the hand-drier as best as he could and they wandered out of the bathroom, into another scene of chaos, although smaller than the one before. 

Momo was still at the phones, taking calls. With him with was Mrs. Tamura, who had been the receptionist for the superintendent of police for years before she had retired. There were several other retired officers and staff milling around -- some that Sousuke, who had joined the force five years ago -- knew, and many more that he didn’t. Rin, who had only returned to Iwatobi three years ago, knew even less people. They made a bee-line to where Momo and Mrs. Tamura sat. Momo brighten up to see them. 

“I thought you two had died in there!! Nii-san called -- he needs you to go out there, there’s a disturbance at one of the hotels near the beach. You were supposed to have been there fifteen minutes ago!” 

“Okay, well, good afternoon Mrs. Tamura, how are you? How is your hip?” 

“Strong enough to last me a century now, young man,” Mrs. Tamura said. “You two can leave now. Young Mikoshiba-kun and I can handle it from here.” 

“Kirishima and Iwashimizu will be back soon as well,” Rin observed. He kicked at Sousuke’s leg. “What do you say? Should we head out?” 

“Yeah,” Sousuke said. “Let’s go.” 

*

It had been months since he’d been able to go on patrol with Rin, but it felt like no time had passed at all. When they were on-duty, they slotted into place together, made a strong team. There was almost no need to talk, since Sousuke knew what Rin was thinking, and Rin knew what he was thinking. Sousuke never could understand why this kind of low-level telepathy didn’t translate when they got home, but it had always been like that too. 

As they headed away from the town centre toward the new tourist area where the hotel was located, they received several calls from the station. One was from Mikoshiba, informing them that he and Hanamura were back in the station, and another was Mrs. Tamura, reporting an attempted robbery at a convenience store on the way. 

They stopped by and took a statement from the sheepish clerk, who admitted that at the time of the robbery, he had been snoozing in the backroom when he heard a loud bang. Someone had cleared off almost all of the potato chips section, and had returned for more when he caught sight of the clerk. The thief had thrown a bottle of Ramune at him before fleeing, leaving half of the potato chips behind. 

Rin and Sousuke exchanged looks. The clerk looked miserably at them as Sousuke took down his statement, while Rin collected the evidence (which consisted of a battered-looking video tape from the security camera.)

“You’ll return that soon, won’t you?” said the clerk anxiously. “We have to erase everything weekly and get it ready for Monday.” 

“We’ll do our best,” Rin said. “Don’t fall asleep again.” 

They waited until they were back in the squad car, driving down the road, before a trickle of laughter burst forth from both of them. Sousuke wiped the tears from his eyes and looked at Rin, who flashed him a shark’s smile in return. 

“This is the level of criminal activity Iwatobi had before you came, you know,” Sousuke said. Rin looked at him with a sly grin. 

“No strange phenomena, weird happenings?” 

“Nope. Iwatobi was boring, safe and normal. Even our criminal element liked to get home before eight. But that was before you came.” 

“What are you saying, Sousuke? That I -- a dedicated public servant, mind you, with numerous medals for valor and service -- had something to do with the rising tide of strange occurrences and unlawful actions in this small seaside town?” 

“I never understood why you came back. You had a big job, lots of prospects. Even after … what happened, they would've taken you back. You're too valuable to lose.” 

“I told you why I came back,” Rin said, looking at him. “I got sick of waiting, Sousuke. I came back for you.” 

Sousuke sighed, trying to let out his impatience and love in one long breath. “So. Aliens were a big part of your job?” 

“Not really. It wasn't the X-Files or anything. But Amakata and I -- well, we got the special cases. Things that other agents weren't suited for. She was my senpai -- she’d been at it longer than I had, and she was good. We made a good team.” 

Sousuke nodded. He felt no envy towards Rin’s former partner and was genuinely sorry that their partnership had come such an explosive end. He looked over to Rin, whose hands were tense on the steering wheel. “You got any leads on what happened to her?” 

“Some,” Rin said tersely. “Ah, we’re here.” 

The complaint had from one of the newly built cabins that lined the beach, away from the hotel itself. They left the squad car parked on the little access road closest to the beach and tramped through the overgrown path towards the cabins in silence. The report that had come in from Mikoshiba had been frustrating vague. It seemed like a neighbor had called in about the noise, but that didn’t seem so urgent the hotel security couldn’t handle it. 

Maybe the hotel owners had called in a favor to Mikoshiba. Sousuke supposed that would hold even in such uncertain times. He glanced over to Rin and wondered once again what he was thinking. 

So much for telepathy, he thought ruefully. Rin looked up at him right then and quirked his eyebrows into a silent question. 

“Nothing,” Sousuke said. 

All the cabins on the beach were dark except for last one, which was their destination. The music bled through the walls and they could make out the lyrics before they even reached the door. Sousuke knocked on it and it was opened by a sleepy-eyed young woman. 

“Oh!” she said, her face brightening. She turned and yelled into the crowd behind her. “Oi, Riko! The strippers are here!” 

“Tell them they’re late!” shouted back Riko (presumably) in the back of the crowd, as she made her way to the front. “I paid for an hour and I’m going to get it!” 

“Ma’am, we’re not stripper cops, we’re real cops,” Sousuke said, trying for patience and failing. He heard Rin snort sharply beside him but kept his eyes trained the woman in front of him, who looked dismayed. 

“The cops? What for?” she said, folding her arms across her chest. She wore a t-shirt that said BRIDE in rhinestones in the front. “Let’s see your badges, then.” 

They got them out and showed them to her, and after a moment, she sighed and asked what this was about. 

“We’re investigating a noise complaint --” 

“What are you talking about?” demanded Riko when she finally had made to the front door. “This is the only cabin that’s been rented right now. Who are we disturbing?!” 

Sousuke opened his mouth to reply when suddenly all the lights in the house went out and stayed out. Silence replaced the noise and people began to shout. 

“Shit,” Rin said. “Where’s the fusebox?” 

The bride-to-be muttered something and checked her phone. “I think I remember the maintenance man saying it was in the back. I think I have the key, let me go with you.” 

“Sou, you good here?” Rin said 

“I’m fine,” Sousuke said, feeling a little disgruntled that Rin even have to ask. After a few minutes, Sousuke felt someone try to squeeze past him and go through the door. He caught the would-be escapee by the arm and said, roughly, “Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to stay in the cabin until this matter can be resolved.” 

In the dim light of the cabin, lit only the glow of about thirty people’s mobiles, it was hard to make out faces. But Sousuke would know that voice anywhere. 

“Oi Yamazaki,” said Kisumi, a little coyly, “you came into work today? Why? Don’t you know the Iwatobi PD is about to be disbanded?” 

“What did you do?” Sousuke asked, not letting him go. 

Kisumi frowned at him. “Nothing! Now, I’m sorry about this, but you’re hurting me.” Before Sousuke could stop him, Kisumi hit him hard on the shoulder and Sousuke reeled back into the door, letting him go. 

He was off running and Sousuke, gasping with pain, fumbled with his comms. “Rin! Rin! You there?” But there was silence on the other end of the line. Where the fuck was he? Kisumi was getting away. 

Well, it couldn’t be helped. Sousuke took off after him, following the winding path away from the cabins and the beach and into the woods. Kisumi had had a good head start on him, but if the dense underbrush under the trees slowed Sousuke down -- and it did the same for Kisumi. 

Sousuke could see him -- the white of his shirt, the pink of his hair. He was just ahead. If Sousuke ran a little faster, he could almost reach him -- 

He felt a hot hiss of a breath against the back of his neck and turned around. All he saw was black, black around him and suddenly it pressed against him, grabbing at his throat and _tearing._

The last thing Sousuke thought of before he blacked out was _damn, not this again._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, tell me what you think. Comments, kudos, smoke-signals, telepathic brain-waves are all welcome. Thank you again!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: Not all heroes wear capes (some of them have a fish's tail), Sousuke proves to be an unreliable narrator when it comes to his parents (aren't we all), and Rin gets his revenge.

Sousuke woke up with a monster of a headache and surrounded by the overwhelming scent of rotting fish. Water lapped at his feet and when he sat up with a groan, he saw a pair of striking blue eyes staring up at him at from the water. 

“I didn’t think Hell would be so wet,” Sousuke said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. It did no good, however. He felt like he’d swallowed gallons of filthy water and seaweed. He had no idea where he was, although it seemed like some kind of cave -- at the mouth of it, he could see the faintest glimmer of dawn. 

“You’re not in hell,” said his companion irritably, and rose up a little bit from the water to reveal a handsome, black haired man with a perfectly muscled chest -- and a silvery-blue tail that flicked off the moisture a little impatiently. 

“Ah. A mermaid tried to kill me. Great. Now I’ve seen everything.” 

“Idiot, I’m not a mer _maid_ ,” the stranger growled. “I have a cock, but it's complicated. And if I wanted to kill you, you’d already be dead. I rescued you from the monster, not that I expected any thanks.” 

“Ah? A monster, you say? And what would that be?” 

The merman mimed tearing out his throat and looked meaningfully at Sousuke. Sousuke’s hand immediately reached for his own throat -- which was bruised, but miraculously otherwise fine. Quietly, Sousuke asked what happened. 

“It likes to make its kills in or near the water,” the merman muttered. “You were lucky that I was nearby when I heard the commotion. You’re fatter than most of its victims, so you slowed it down and I was able to snatch you away.” 

“… I’m not fat,” Sousuke said, a little defensively. Sure, he was no longer in the competitive swimming shape he had been in high school, but that didn’t mean anything. He still worked out everyday. His bulk was muscle. Mostly.

“You probably have to order all your clothes online,” said the merman with a snicker. He reached out and rubbed the back of his neck. An ugly red gash ran across his arm. 

“I don't understand why a merman would know about online shopping--” 

The merman gave him a blank look. 

“But I can see that you're hurt,” Sousuke said, gesturing to the merman’s hand. 

“It’ll heal,” the merman said unconcernedly, and began to sink back into the water. 

“What, I need to ask you more about this monster,” Sousuke said, scrambling towards the water. “I might have to take you into the station for further questioning.” 

The merman looked him a little disbelievingly. “I’m a creature of the sea. Do you think I’d bother with your petty human concerns? Or your human laws, for that matter?” 

“If you live in Japanese waters, you're subject to Japanese laws,” Sousuke said reasonably, even though his rescuer made a big show of rolling his eyes and heaving a great sigh. “Besides, if what you say is right, you concerned yourself plenty when you rescued me…” 

“You're bothersome. I only stopped you from being eaten because I knew it would make Rin cry.” 

“So you're friends with Rin? Why am I not surprised,” Sousuke said resignedly. “Ah, now that I think about it, you look pretty familiar too…” 

“Goodbye, Mr. Idiot Policeman. They're calling for you,” said his rescuer, before he swam out of the cave and was gone. 

Sousuke sat staring at the spot he'd disappeared and realized that this was the actual moment he accepted that Iwatobi was not an ordinary town. It was one thing to see a thing that was supposed to be a portal to a new world, or hear about some other bizarre phenomena. But it was a whole other feeling to see, with your own eyes a half-man, half-fish, wholly _rude_ creature, who had just happened to have saved your life. 

He needed to get out of here. The cave was barely wide enough for two people to crawl through in the daylight -- he wasn't even sure how the merman had been able pull him in here. But at least the tide was low. He got up and staggered a few from the entrance and collapsed into wet sand. Someone _was_ calling for him. 

Of course, it was Rin, who was running towards him. He crashed into sand next to him and began to check him for injuries. “Sousuke, you idiot,” Rin said, his voice shaking, “why don't you answer your comms? _Why are you like this?!_ ” 

“Kiss me better, Rin,” Sousuke said. 

“Gah, what awful timing,” Rin said, as the rest of the search party and the paramedics came into earshot. 

*

Sousuke was released from the hospital for the second time in six months with a relatively clean bill of health. They'd put a brace back on his shoulder and told him to take it easy, but that wasn't likely, was it? 

“If you come here more often, we’ll need to give you a discount for your customer loyalty,” said Serizawa said pleasantly as they ran into each other as Sousuke was walking out of the hospital. 

Sousuke winced. “I'm sorry, I missed yesterday’s appointment…” 

“Don't worry about that, I've heard that there's trouble at the police department. Just do your best and we’ll get you rescheduled.” 

“Ah, yes. Say, Dr. Serizawa, may I ask you a question? It's not about my treatment, but something else. I don't want to keep you from your patients, though.” 

“It's all right,” Serizawa said with a smile. “I was actually heading home right now. Shall we walk?” 

“Thank you,” Sousuke said, sticking his hands into his pockets. “Have you been living in Iwatobi long?” 

“Well, I was born here,” said Serizawa. “Went to elementary and middle school here as well. My family moved to Tokyo when I was fourteen because of my father’s job -- and to be closer to the specialists that were able to fix my vision. I was a swimmer, you know, like you.” 

“Oh? What stroke did you specialize in?” 

“Freestyle,” said Serizawa, flashing him a grin. For a moment, Sousuke could see it, the young swimmer that he must have been then. “But you didn't come to ask me about my old swimming career, right? What did you want to talk about?” 

“Have you ever noticed anything … strange about Iwatobi, when you lived here before? Or when you came back?” 

“No, nothing like that, it’s a normal sort of place. Not even a strange festival to speak of,” Serizawa said with a shrug. “Why do you ask? Is it something important?” 

“Nothing, really,” Sousuke said, “sorry to have kept you. There’s your car.” 

“Ah, there is it indeed. You know, there was something --” 

“Hmm? What’s that?”

“I’m sure it’s not what you’re looking for, but my best friend’s little brother once said he’d seen a mermaid in the water. But Ikuya always had a vivid imagination. You know his brother, I think, Kirishima Natsuya?” 

“Oh yes, I know Kirishima, he’s a good guy,” Sousuke said thoughtfully. “Well, I’ll see you soon, Doc.” 

“Good night, Sousuke. Try to stay out of trouble.” 

“I wish I could,” Sousuke replied, almost cheerfully. 

*

“Rin, stop. I’m not going to feel better with you gnawing at my elbow like that.” They had finally, finally been granted a reprieve for the rest of the night and were now huddled together in Rin’s big bed. It would have been peaceful, except that Rin’s razor-like teeth were scratching at Sousuke’s extremities and it didn't seem like he was willing to stop. 

“What makes you think I’m trying to make you feel better? Stupid Sousuke!” 

“Come on now, you sound like you’re twelve,” Sousuke said, as he was hit in the face with a pillow. “Ouch.” 

“This is the second time you made me fear for your life and I don’t like it at all. If it happens again, I'm going to leave you.” 

“If you left me, I really would die,” Sousuke said with a smile. He cracked open an eye and looked over to where Rin was curled up next to him. Rin looked back at him solemnly. 

Sousuke could feel the smile slip off his face. _I sound too desperate, what he must think of me for saying it…_

“Don't you ever,” Rin muttered, burying his face against Sousuke’s side.

“Die? That can't be helped, Rin. We’re all going to die someday.” 

“Leave me, I mean,” Rin said, frustrated. He crawled up and collapsed on top of Sousuke, squeezing out the air from Sousuke’s lung with a surprised huff. He bit at Sousuke’s shoulder and glared at him. 

“You're the one who threatened to leave me,” Sousuke said, exasperatedly. “Also, I thought we agreed that you wouldn't bite where other people can see?” 

“What business do you have, taking off your shirt around other people? We’re not actually strippers, you know, no matter how often we get mistaken for them.” 

“Ah. True. Did you ever figure out who made that complaint on the bachelorette party?” Sousuke asked curiously. 

Rin shrugged. “The call came from a burner we found when we were canvassing the area, looking for you.” 

“And I saw Kisumi again. What are the odds that he turns out to be the Butterfly?” 

“Pretty good ones, I would say. He knew a lot more about the department than any rookie really is supposed to know. And it does look like the rest of the department resigned a little after he did.” 

“Unbelievable.” 

“Ha. What's unbelievable is that we have a killer on our hands and are prime witnesses was an unconscious man and … a mermaid.” 

“Hey, he told me he knew you.” 

“I don't know any mermaids, Sousuke! Or mermen, whatever. Are you sure you didn't get high off some mushrooms and just dreamt the whole thing?” 

“What happened to Mr. _I Want to Believe_? You're breaking my heart here.” 

“Aliens are different than mermaids.” 

“Well, I know what I saw,” Sousuke stubbornly. Suddenly, an alarm on his phone went off and he reached for it. There was a reminder -- in an hour’s time, he and Rin were supposed to meet up with his parents at Iwatobi’s newest seafood restaurant. 

“Is that really today?” Sousuke asked himself, horrified. Rin peered over his shoulder and groaned. 

“How about we stay here and have sex and send your parents a fruit basket instead?” Rin said, breathing heavily into Sousuke’s ear. 

If he was trying to be seductive, it was working. 

However, Sousuke knew he had to decline. “I'm sorry, Rin. I have to go. But you don't,” he said, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed and lifting himself up. His shoulder had been acting up again, so the brace would stay where it was. Grudgingly, he realized that that meant he'd have to wear a blazer. 

Rin smacked the meat of Sousuke’s ass (which absolutely did not make Sousuke jump, how dare --) and sighed. “No, I'm obligated now. Besides, I need to see the kind of people who raised a guy like you, Sousuke.” 

“You've met my mom, haven't you?” 

“Once, when I was eight, but never again. I always thought you were ashamed of me.” 

“No.” Sousuke turned to look at Rin seriously. “I never have been. If anything, I was always afraid that they would drive you away.” 

“Well, you don't have to worry about that anymore,” Rin said with a grin. “Nothing can scare me off.” 

*

An hour and thirty minutes later, Rin leaned against Sousuke’s chair and whispered low into his ear. “Just say the word and I’ll get Mikoshiba to send a message that you’re needed in the station.” 

The dinner date had not had an auspicious start. 

For one thing, they’d had to scramble to get ready, and as much as Sousuke loved and adored almost everything about Rin, the fact remained that Rin was absolutely a shower hog and there was no power in the world that could remove him from the bathroom until he was good and ready to leave. And it did no good to suggest sharing the shower -- all Sousuke would get was a suspicious glare and muttered ‘Five more minutes.’ 

Sousuke’s own routine was simple to the point of laziness. He showered, shaved, splashed on some cologne and went to get his clothes ready. He’d had a shirt and dress pants cleaned and pressed for this occasion, and so only needed to find a blazer that sort went along with the rest. 

He wasn’t an expert in fashion at all -- he’d spent most of his life in one uniform or another, and that had been fine with him. 

Rin on the other hand, took a lot of care, and it obviously showed. He was wearing a suit, for God’s sake. “What,” he said nervously. “Is it too much?” 

“You look fantastic,” Sousuke said, leaning into kiss him. “You could get married in that suit.” 

“Please make plans for a better proposal than that,” Rin said, with a toothy grin. 

“It wasn’t -- ah, never mind.” 

The restaurant was about fifteen minutes away from their apartment, and there was actually a sizable crowd in the front, trying to get a table. By the time they’d gotten past the crush of people, Sousuke saw that his parents were already seated. “You’re late,” Sousuke’s father said as they approached the table. “I thought I raised you to know that punctuality was important.” 

“I apologize, Father, Mother, I allowed the time to get away from me,” Sousuke said. He leaned down and accepted a kiss on the cheek from his mother. Then he pulled out a chair for Rin and then himself. “This is Matsuoka Rin, my boyfriend. I’m glad you’re going to have a chance to meet.” 

“It’s -- uh, lovely to meet you,” Rin said, exhibiting a heretofore unknown strain of nervousness that made Sousuke want to grin -- although he mostly stared straight again with his best somber and attentive expression. 

“It is nice to meet you again, Rin,” Sousuke’s mother said brightly. “You moving away made Sousuke so very sad, you know. I think you were the first person to break his heart!” 

“Mother, please…” 

“I certainly didn’t mean to …” Rin said, shifting in his seat. “I was only twelve at the time, after all.” 

“That’s all right. And now you two are working together at Iwatobi PD,” his mother said with a smile. “We’ve heard that the police department is going through some changes recently. It’s a miracle that they let you get away!” 

“They never should have given the job to Mikoshiba,” his father grumbled. “Kid’s too young. I don’t care how high his test scores were or who his family is. This is what happens when you put an inexperienced captain in charge of a precinct.” 

“Mikoshiba’s a good leader,” Sousuke said, “and at some point, you’d have to admit that the department’s hands were tied…” 

“What about these murders, hey? The bodies started piling up and there wasn’t a single lead? They had to depend on another police department in a completely different town to catch the culprit? Hardly a good showing there.” 

“You’re not a part of the department anymore, you wouldn’t have access to what’s going to behind the scenes…” 

“Ahem,” said the waiter loudly. They all looked up. He smiled down at them. “Would you like the menus, sirs and madam? And can I get you something to drink?” 

As everyone rattled off their initial drinks orders, Sousuke flipped through the menu, increasingly incredulous. “Everything in here is…” 

“... Made of mackerel,” said Rin. “Sousuke, do you want split a bottle of Mackerel wine?” 

“Actually, the menu itself is made of mackerel,” said the waiter cheerfully. “It’s quite pretty, isn’t it?” He displayed the spotted brown and silver cover for the table to admire. 

“Oh, I thought it was imitation eel or something,” said Sousuke’s mother. 

“Rin! Sousuke! I’m glad you two are here,” said a familiar voice behind them. Both of them turned to see Makoto walk energetically towards them. He greeted Sousuke’s parents warmly and soon everyone was quizzing him about the menu and his own recommendations. 

“When can we see the man himself, Nanase Haruka? This is his restaurant, isn’t it?” said Sousuke’s father, looking around as if he could immediately pick out the elusive chef from the crowd of other diners. 

Makoto smiled -- he looked a little strained, but that was a normal expression with anyone who encountered Mr. Yamazaki -- and said that he would try to get Nanase to come by and greet them. He left and the waiter came by to get their orders. 

Sousuke picked an order of mackerel cutlets, while Rin opted for the mackerel fried rice. Sousuke’s parents chose mackerel salad and a mackerel roast for their dinner. 

The Mackerel wine went untried. 

_Nanase Haruka._ Yes, Sousuke had been introduced to him before as one Rin’s oldest school friends, but it had never really stuck. But something now made him take out his phone and search for his name. Most of the results were about about the restaurant opening. After a moment, Sousuke typed in Nanase’s name as well the name of the typhoon that had hit Iwatobi three years ago. 

And there it was, the missing link. 

Rin kicked him. He looked up from his phone to see that his parents and Rin were staring at him. “You’re being kind of rude here, Sousuke,” Rin said. 

Sousuke apologized and rose from his seat to hastily excused himself from the table. The doors to the men’s restroom and the kitchens were both hidden from the dining room by a narrow hallway. Sousuke went through the kitchen door. Inside was a scene of controlled chaos. 

And Nanase was in the middle of everything. He had an extremely sharp knife in his hand, which he was using to debone a fish. He was also, without a doubt, the merman that had rescued Sousuke almost a week ago. Those blue eyes were absolutely unmistakable, and so was the bandaged hand. But the pair of legs did come as a surprise. 

Sousuke caught his eye and they stared at each for long moment.

“You! Get out of here!” Nanase said, the first to recover. He lifted his bloody knife menacingly at Sousuke. “No customers outside the dining area!” 

“Sorry, I must’ve taken a wrong turn,” Sousuke said with a sheepish grin. Nanase’s frown deepened, if that was possible. 

Sousuke quickly exited the kitchen. He stopped at the restroom to wash his face. By the time he returned to the table, he saw that his mother had thrown her arms around Rin’s neck and was crying softly. “Please take care of our son, Matsuoka-san!” 

“I will, Mrs. Yamazaki!” Rin said. And no matter how strenuously he denied it later, there were tears in his eyes as well. 

“Ah, what did I miss?” Sousuke said, taking his seat back. The food had already arrived in his absence and he dug into his croquettes. They incredibly delicious, as croquettes went -- savory and hot and crunchy. If he could, he would have order several more. 

Looking around, it seemed that everyone else at the table were thoroughly enjoying themselves as well. Their plates were rapidly becoming empty. 

“What did we talk about? Well, we had a surprisingly heartfelt conversation about the possibilities of mackerel,” said Rin, his eyes sparkling with mischief. “And also your parents have received me into their hearts, so that's good.” 

“I am very proud of you two,” said Sousuke’s mother, dabbing the corners of her eye with a napkin. 

“I'm withholding judgement for now,” said Sousuke’s father. 

“You, withholding something from me? Can't imagine what that could be,” Sousuke said harshly. “I mean, you didn't even bother to come to the hospital when I was shot.” 

“Your doctors assured me that barring some truly unforeseen circumstances, you would be fine. Besides, I was overseas. By the time I came back, you were already out.”

“You never --” 

“Ah, perhaps we should come back later,” said Makoto. Nanase had followed behind him, despite clearly not wanting to be there. 

“No! Please stay!” Rin said, a note of desperation in his voice. “Congratulations, Haru. This place is incredible. The food is marvelous.” 

“You are truly a mackerel genius,” Sousuke’s mother said fervently.

“I still don't like the look of those menus,” Sousuke’s father said.

“I thought I recognized you, Nanase,” Sousuke said. “Aren't you what the newspapers called ‘The Iwatobi Miracle’?” 

At Rin’s confused look, Sousuke explained. “There were reports that a young swimmer had gone out into the water before the typhoon hit and hadn’t been seen since. The storm was very fast moving, you know, almost nothing predicted it. Everyone assumed that the swimmer was the first fatality of the storm, but actually, he was found days later, completely healthy and sound, on a beach a hundred miles from Iwatobi.” 

“You never mentioned this to me,” Rin said to Nanase reproachfully. 

“There was nothing to tell,” said Nanase with an irritated huff. “Whoever was watching me from the shore was wrong. I didn't swim through a typhoon, that's impossible.” 

“Yeah, you'd really have to be creature of the sea to able survive that,” said Sousuke, watching Nanase’s face. 

Nanese shrugged, impassive. “As I was saying. It's not an interesting story --” 

“Are you joking?” Rin demanded. “It seems amazing to me.” 

“... But some people wanted to adapt it into a movie. I was able to buy this restaurant with some of the money.” 

“Rin, Sousuke, would you mind staying behind after the restaurant closes?” Makoto said sweetly. “We have something to talk to you about.” 

“Of course,” Rin said. “Especially if you give me free drinks to ply my tongue.” 

“I guess I can tag along to see that this guy doesn't do too much damage to himself.” 

Makoto nodded approvingly and left. Nanase was already gone. 

*

Closing time came quickly. Sousuke’s parents had left a long time ago and Rin and Sousuke had given up their table in favor of the bar. It had been a long time since they had a chance to just sit around and shoot the shit like this, and insult each other’s drinks choices. They were probably on their way getting well and truly wasted, though Sousuke knew, at least in the back of his mind, that they both needed to be alert for what was ahead. 

“I learned something new about you today,” Rin said, interrupting his own story about one of his adventures abroad. 

“What's that,” Sousuke said, licking the rim of his margarita glass. God, it was so salty. Why was he so surprised that it was salty? 

“You --” Rin’s finger pressed against Sousuke’s cheek. “Are a spoiled fucking brat.” 

“Feh. If this is about my dad, then you can't say that. There's more to the story than what you saw today. My father is a truly awful person.” 

“Mmm. But you get that your parents’ world revolves around you, right?” 

“You don't understand how much pressure they put on me, my whole life through. Nothing I ever did was good enough. And you see the nervous wreck in front of you.” 

“You’re not a nervous wreck. Maybe you're not as confident as a guy with your face and your body might usually be, but what's wrong with that? I like that! And don't act like I've never felt parental pressure, you dick. My dad died when I was eleven! And I followed his dream of being in law enforcement and had to leave home at an early age. I didn't see my mom enough before she passed on! I don't see Gou enough at all, since she's living overseas and busy climbing the corporate ladder at _Muscles Monthly_ , the world's foremost muscles otaku magazine!” 

It was probably the longest speech Rin had ever given him. His face was red and he looked like going to cry. 

“Aw, Rin, don't cry,” Sousuke said awkwardly, pawing at his partner’s shoulder. He hated to see Rin cry -- so why did it always feel like he was the reason Rin cried in the first place?

“I'm not crying,” Rin said with gritted teeth, even as fresh tears tracked down his face. “Can't you see that?!” 

“What are you talking about? You’re crying right now.” Sousuke offer him a cocktail napkin which Rin took with a huff. 

“Last call, gentlemen,” said the bartender, and they ordered up. 

The restaurant emptied out quickly after that. Sousuke didn't want to sit around like an idiot, so he helped clean the tables and then sweeping the floor. The quicker it was done with, the quicker he could question Nanase. Rin was busy charming Makoto, who seemed pretty unused to having the megawatt Matsuoka charm trained on him. 

At long last, Nanase emerged from the kitchen. His white chef’s uniform was pretty liberally spotted with his work for today and there was a wild look in his eyes. His gaze narrowed around Rin and Makoto and he stalked toward them. Sousuke, interested despite himself, followed behind. 

“Hey, Haru,” Rin said, flashing him a smile that was seventy-five percent charm and twenty-five percent teeth. “I was just asking Makoto if he knew you were a merman. It seems like he did, although he denied it.” 

“Rin,” Nanase said heavily. “Sometimes I really dislike you.” 

Makoto gasped, although he tried to hide this after a fit of coughing. 

Rin rolled his eyes. “Sit down. You too, Sousuke.” 

They sat around a table and stared at each other.

Then Rin began. “Rei was supposed to be here to explain, but I don’t know where he’s gotten to, but I’ll do my best.” Then he explained quickly what had happened in Ryugazaki’s lab and the consequences of the breach opening. To Sousuke’s surprise, neither Makoto nor Nanase seemed to be ready to immediately dismiss Rin’s words. Instead they listened intently and occasionally exchange looks with each other. 

“Haru,” Rin said, “your change happened after the big storm three years ago, isn’t that right?” 

Nanase looked away. “I’ve always been most comfortable in the water. So you can’t say that all of this started three years ago, that wouldn’t be right.” 

“All right, but you started turning into a merman, a half-man, half-fish person, a creature of the sea -- about three years ago, correct?” Sousuke asked impatiently. “Don’t flip flop now.” 

Nanase glared at him. “I don’t need to answer that question from you, Idiot Javert.” 

“Hey!” 

“I’m just curious about how you turn into a merman and then back again,” Rin said, rubbing at his chin. “Just what the process is.” 

“Haru, you can tell them if you like,” Makoto said gently. “Keeping a secret gets hard sometimes.” 

Nanase sighed. “... Fine. I was caught in the storm. I thought I drown, of course, especially since I was so far from shore. I tried swimming back, but it did no good. I was -- sucked under by the current, and I thought I was dying. The only thing I could think to do was to swim. I swam and I swam, trying to escape my fate. I didn’t even notice how my body had changed until I finally was able to stop.” 

Nanase’s blue eyes had a strange sparkle in them. “I was never more happier in my life to see that I had a fish’s tail and that I could breath underwater. It was a dream come true.” 

“It seems like that’s what happened in the storm,” Sousuke said, rearranging sugar packets into a little house. At everyone’s confused look, he explained. “Think about it. Ryugazaki’s experiments finally worked. Hazaki was able explore strange worlds. Nanase could live in the water. It seems like the storm fulfilled their deepest desires -- albeit in a twisted way.” 

“What about you, Sousuke?” Makoto asked. “How did the storm change you…?” 

Sousuke folded his arms across his chest. He was drunk, he knew, and he was a confessional drunk at that. Feeling miserable, he said, “I missed Rin a lot in those days…” 

 

“Oh,” Makoto said with a sad smile. “You and I are a lot alike, then.” 

“You don’t like Rin in that way!” snapped Nanase.

“Geez, read the mood, Haru,” said Rin. “He was talking about you.”

“... Oh,” Nanase said, blushing slightly. 

“But how does your body change?” Sousuke said. “It’s not like you fell into the Spring of the Drowned Girl and now can only change when splashed with hot and cold water… Right?” 

“Haru-chan would make a really cute girl,” Makoto said, a little dreamily. 

“Drop the chan,” said Nanase with a huff. “And don’t be silly, of course not. I change with salt and fresh water. Or when I’ve dried off enough.” 

“Well, there you are. Haru jumps into the sea, becomes a merman. Haru gets out the sea and Makoto hoses him off, and then he can walk. Mystery solved,” said Rin, reaching for another drink. He paused for a moment when he realized that it was a bottle of Mackerel wine and then shrugged and poured out a glass for himself. 

“Just as a final word on that,” said Makoto was a pleasant smile. “If any of you ever try to use this knowledge against Haru in any way, there is no place in the world where you would be safe. I would hunt you down and finish you off.” 

Sousuke believed him completely. Judging from the far from amused look on Rin’s face, he did too. Nanase looked like he was about to swoon. 

“All right, all right,” Rin said, “we promise that nothing will leave these walls. Besides, now we have mission, don’t we? To retrieve Nagisa and defeat the killer -- and close the breach. Are you willing to help?” 

“Yes, of course,” Makoto said. 

“It’s quieter without Nagisa,” Nanase said, “but fine.” 

“You know I will. But Ryugazaki said there was another person who was changed by the storm,” Sousuke said. “We have to find that person, or else our efforts might be in vain.” 

“Isn’t the seventh person Shigino Kisumi?” Makoto said. “His family was killed in the storm -- although I’m not sure how that would be a dream come true. Seems to be nightmare.” 

“Yes,” Rin said slowly. “It’s probably Kisumi. Something certainly changed, and as the Butterfly (if he is) he has far more power now than he ever did before. We’ll need to bring him in. That’s your responsibility, Sousuke.” 

“Me? Why me?” 

“Well, he has a soft spot for you, obviously,” Rin said. “You being former lovers and all…” 

Makoto and Nanase exchanged looks. 

“Rin, you bastard, is this some kind of punishment? May I remind you that we weren’t even going out at the time!” 

“That doesn’t matter! You don’t screw someone else’s rookie, Sousuke! You just don’t!” Rin said hotly, taking a long pull from the bottle of Mackerel wine. 

“He wasn’t a real rookie! He joined so he could spy on _you._ He put a listening device in _your_ bed!” 

“I’m glad we’re not like that,” Nanase said to Makoto, who nodded. 

“That was obviously jealousy -- mmm, ah, nevermind,” Rin said, swallowing a big gulp of air. He stared at the ceiling for a moment before he came back to himself. “All right. Let’s toast now to the successful opening of Haru’s restaurant and the fact that Sousuke wasn’t eaten by a tentacle monster earlier -- thanks again to Haru!” 

“It didn’t have tentacles,” Sousuke protested, as he toasted with a glass of Mackerel wine. He took a sip and was relieved to learn that the mackerel was just the name of the brand, after all. Although there was a slight, salty aftertaste… 

“No, there were tentacles, and fairly involved ones too,” Nanase said. “I’m surprised you don’t remember.” 

“Wait. What do you mean _involved_ …”

“You can call me Haruka or Haru, if you want,” said Nanase -- or Haru -- with the sparkle in his eyes that Sousuke now knew meant that there would be trouble ahead. 

“Well, you can call me Sousuke instead of idiot or Javert or whatever,” he said a bit weakly. 

“Pass,” Haru said coolly. 

Sousuke wasn’t able to get angry right then because he distracted by Rin pressing a kiss on his cheek.

“You like to kiss me, not him, right?” Rin said, looking deeply into Sousuke’s eyes. His face was red again. To Sousuke he was more beautiful than ever. 

“Of course, I don’t want to kiss anyone else but you,” Sousuke said, kissing Rin’s nose, and watching him wrinkle it. He felt light, happier than he had been for a long time. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- This chapter is early! Or is it late? I am no longer sure! And a lot fluffier than I had expected it to be. Enjoy it while you can! 
> 
> \- There is a lurking sense of souharus in this, mostly because I'm fascinated by how different it is from the perfect understanding of makoharu (and to a lesser extent, sourin.) souharu is like ... perfect misunderstanding?? Haha, whatever. I'll always be here for Haru giving Sousuke shit, forever. We all have to make our own fun. 
> 
> \- Rin anxiously gnawing at any part of Sousuke that's available is my concrete headcanon from which I will never be moved!! 
> 
> \- I bet you were asking yourself: but what happened to Gou in this crazy AU? Since she never showed up in the Future Fish ending credits, I had to decide for myself. And so I decided that Gou was gonna follow her dream -- to experience and document the world's most beautiful muscles. We should all be like Gou. 
> 
> \- Makoto is still so cute even when he's seriously threatening harm to Our Heroes! Aw, Mako! Yes, you totally would hurt them if they betrayed Haru! You cutie! ♥
> 
> Any comments, kudos or questions are happily accepted. Hit me up on Tumblr, if you want under the same name.


	7. Chapter 7

Sousuke had several things to do that day. Pick up his uniform from the dry-cleaners. Buy bananas from the convenience store for Rin’s breakfast tomorrow morning. See Kisumi and persuade him to join the rest of them in a friendly bout of monster-hunting. Ironically, it took much more effort to convince the woman at the dry-cleaner’s that the white spot on the breast of his navy-blue uniform hadn’t been there when he’d brought it in than it was to find Kisumi. 

She looked at him very suspiciously before admitting that maybe it hadn’t been there before. It was true that Sousuke had brought the uniform in a lamentable condition -- being splashed with tea and then dragged through the woods and dumped into the sea would do that to the most sturdy uniform, and frankly, Sousuke’s uniform wasn’t the most sturdy anyway. But he’d paid extra for the damage and for the repairs and didn’t think he deserved the extra judgement!

Kisumi, on the other hand, was sitting on a bench overlooking the beach, as he said he would be in his text. He was with that Nitori guy, who was hovering around him. When Nitori looked up to see Sousuke looming over him, he squeaked and stepped back. 

“You…” Sousuke began, but Kisumi waved his hand in front of his face.

“Yoo-hoo, don’t get distracted, you came here to talk to me, didn’t you? Nitori paid his bail and is perfectly within in his rights to enjoy the Iwatobi sunshine. You can go get me a Pocari, Nitori. Thank you.” 

Kisumi flashed him a huge grin and Nitori took off running. 

Sousuke took a seat beside Kisumi with a sigh. His shoulder was acting up again, but Kisumi poked at his side. 

“I need to search you for a wire,” he said earnestly. 

“That is absolutely ridiculous, I’m not here on official business,” Sousuke said flatly. 

“Nonetheless,” Kisumi said. 

“Don’t poke at me,” Sousuke warned. 

Kisumi rolled his eyes. “Please. I’m a professional.” 

Sousuke sat up and allowed Kisumi to pat him down. This attracted all sorts of stares from various passersby -- though Sousuke had picked this place for being public but not _too_ public -- and finally Kisumi nodded, allowing him to sit down. 

“Of course, I'm not going to admit to anything. I'm just an entrepreneur who has been unfairly targeted by you and your partner for reasons beyond my ken. However, I believe I was told that in exchange for my cooperation, you and Matsuoka would be willing to drop your inquiries.” 

“Not a chance,” Sousuke said bluntly. “As I told you over the phone, you have a chance to actually help resolve one of the most dangerous problems Iwatobi has and help us catch a killer. If you would be willing to help, you would have our gratitude, of course, but we wouldn't be able to look the other way when it came to your criminal activities.” 

“Boy, I'd love to see how you're like once that stick has been medically removed from your rectum. You're saying I should help you for the sake of helping you? Who in the world would accept such an offer?” 

“Think about Hayato.” Sousuke knew this was a dangerous gambit, but it seemed like it was the only one he had. Kisumi stiffened next to him and watched him with wary eyes. 

Sousuke continued on, remorselessly. “I have no reason to doubt that you loved him. Do you think he would be happy to hear that his big brother let a monster run free because he didn't think helping catch it was worth it?” 

“It's a low blow, Yamazaki,” Kisumi said in a low voice. He looked down. For a moment, Sousuke caught a glimpse of a completely different Shigino Kisumi -- a somber, grave figure with sorrowful eyes. A man haunted. “My parents were shit, you know. Neglected me all throughout my childhood. All I wanted to was get away, but when I was twelve, they had Hayato and I knew I had to stick around longer. I took care of him from the first. There was nothing I wouldn't do for that kid. Every one of my plans, every one of my schemes were meant to get both him and I out of this town for good.” 

“Did you…” 

“They weren't supposed to pick up Hayato from kindergarten that day. I was supposed to, like I always do. I bet you think I had something to do with their deaths, but I didn't. They just -- took away the only person who meant anything to me. Now there's nothing to stop me from doing what I like.” 

“People have died because of this thing,” Sousuke said, “I don't care how alienated you feel and how justified you think your actions are. If you do nothing now, you don't have the right to say that you're better than a common criminal.” 

“You self-righteous prick,” Kisumi snapped back. “Do you think I care about your opinion of me? I don't give a single fuck.” 

“So you came all the way here to tell me that you don't care and you won't help?” 

Kisumi rose from his seat and said, “I don't know why I came. Curiousity, I guess. Some dumb kind of fascination. But that's finished now. See you, Yamazaki.” 

“Shigino,” Sousuke said, rising. “Listen, I am sorry about your brother. I do think things would have been different for you if he'd been alive. If you could help us, I would be grateful, but I won't press you on this, anyway.” 

Kisumi gave him a strange half-smile and paused. He seemed to want to speak further, but Nitori came then, with a sweating bottle of Pocari, which he handed over to Kisumi. With Nitori was -- Sousuke nearly groaned when he saw him -- Mikoshiba the younger, eating a corndog in hand and trailing behind Nitori like a lost puppy. 

“Momo, what are you doing here?” Sousuke snapped. “You were supposed to stay in the car.” 

Sousuke had been given with the unenviable task of taking Momo on patrol that afternoon. He'd thought Momo, entirely absorbed with the games on his phone, would have been fine to take care of himself and the car for the fifteen minutes it would take to meet up with Kisumi, but obviously he'd been wrong. 

Momo looked at him sheepishly. “I got hungry, Yamazaki-san! All you have in your squad car are expired protein bars. Then I met Nitori-senpai at the combini! Did you know we went to the same school together?” 

“Eh? I don’t really remember you…” Nitori began to say. 

“What! I’m hurt, Nitori-senpai!” Momo gave him a frankly ludicrous pout. 

“... Anyway, I don't know why I'm surprised,” Sousuke said with a sigh. “It's an incestuous little town, Iwatobi.” 

“Tell me about it,” said Kisumi with a chuckle. “Well, I'm off then. You'll get my answer later, Yamazaki.” 

“Not too late, I hope,” Sousuke said pointedly. Kisumi only shrugged. 

*

That night, Sousuke dreamed that he was swimming in cloudy water, so murky that he couldn't see his hand stretched out before him. Only darkness, vaguely green-tinged and with the faint speckle of tiny sea-life, floated around him. He tried to breath, to calm his racing heart, but it did no good. He was drowning, sinking ever lower into the cold water. 

Suddenly, before him there was a slash of red and his lungs were burning from exhaustion. He struggled harder, reaching desperately up towards the surface, towards the light and -- 

He blinked. He was at his parents’ house in Sano. Still in a dream, he knew, but now it had taken on a form of a memory. He didn't need to look at his phone to know what day it was, three years ago. The day of the typhoon. His father’s face was red, as it always was when he tried to talk with Sousuke and ended up yelling instead. 

“Why haven't you sat for your detective’s exam yet? Are you determined to waste your life, Sousuke?”

“Father,” Sousuke began to speak, but his father interrupted again. 

“What are you waiting for? What are you going to do with your life? Don't tell me you're still waiting for that Matsuoka boy. He's moved on. Why can't you?” 

Sousuke had had enough. He stood up quickly, the chair he had been sitting tipping over. He kept his eye on his father. “I'm not waiting for anyone, least of all Rin. You might be disappointed in me, but you've got to understand that this is my life, not yours. I'm not a child anymore. You don't have a say in what I do.” 

“Get out of this house,” his father said. “And don't come back until you're ready to apologize.” 

“Gladly,” Sousuke said, taking his coat and leaving. He heard his mother asking what was wrong -- she’d been in the kitchen, making dinner when the argument had started. Sousuke waved her off and stalked out of the house.

Outside, the sky looked peculiar, greyish green though it was the middle of the day. When Sousuke started the car and the radio came on, he heard the news of the storm. By rights, he should stay where he was -- Sano was more inland than Iwatobi, after all. He would be safer here. 

Having thought that, he drove to Iwatobi at full speed, his mind blank except for the thought of Rin. 

He was at the beach, watching the rising surf slam violently into sand. The wind whipped viciously at his face and coat and overhead the tsunami warning wailed, urging him towards higher ground. 

“I don’t want you to come back!” he shouted into the howling wind, even though Rin was far away from here, and didn’t think of him anyway. “I never want to see you again!” It was the truest wish of his heart, he thought, to never see or speak to Rin again. Maybe then he would be able to forget. Forget and move on, to go somewhere else, where Rin’s shadow wouldn’t follow him. 

_I’ll wait for you_ , Rin had said all those years ago, but it was Sousuke who waited. Waited and waited for nothing, while Rin moved through the world without a care. No more. Sousuke was done waiting. Done with Rin. 

The storm picked up then and threatened to blow him away. Losing courage, finally, he scrambled away from the crumbling shore, to safety -- he hoped. 

*

Sousuke woke up in a cold sweat. Rin was looking at him, his red eyes dark in the dimness of their bedroom. “You were shouting,” Rin said and Sousuke blinked and shook his head, trying to wake up entirely. 

“Sorry. Did I wake you?” Sousuke muttered, rubbing his temples. He felt Rin’s hands -- cool against the heat of his forehead -- and relaxed. 

“No. Couldn’t sleep either. You’re stressed about tomorrow?” Rin said. That night, during dinner, Ryugazaki had called after several weeks of complete silence, to tell them that tomorrow would have to be the day they opened the breach again and rescued Hazuki. Rin had asked a few questions, but they had already gone over the plan with all of them several times. As long as Kisumi showed up, it would work.

 

Or so Ryugazaki said. 

Sousuke listened to his and Rin’s conversation in silence, eating his rice slowly and methodically. His mind was blank. He didn’t know if after tonight he would be able to do this. Eat rice together with Rin. To be with Rin. The last month or so had been unbelievable to him, the best and the strangest in his life. He had been happier now than he had ever been -- at least since he’d stopped swimming. 

And tomorrow would either be the end of all that -- or another beginning to a better future. 

“I’m not nervous,” Sousuke said finally, opening his eyes and turning towards Rin, who looked at him intently. “I know you’ll be there to have my back.” 

Rin nodded. “I won’t let you do something stupid. Even though I know you’re just dying to.” 

Sousuke grinned. “Same for you. Also, really, _dying_?” 

Rin flushed. “Shut up.” 

Sousuke’s grin widened. 

“Idiot,” Rin hissed, pulling Sousuke towards him and kissed him.

*

Later, Sousuke tested out the words he’d wanted to say for a long time now.

“Rin, I want to quit the force.” 

A small snore greeted him and he looked over to see Rin curled up around him, fast asleep. 

*

The appointed day dawned hot and humid, and the oppressive atmosphere only seemed to grow as time went on. Both Sousuke and Rin had requested time off from the station, which was granted despite Mikoshiba’s acid remarks about the selfishness of their requests. Ryugazaki was sending them updates every five minutes about the status of the breach, which was opening very, very slowly. Makoto and Haru were in the lab with him. Only Sousuke, Rin and Kisumi were missing. 

For what seemed like the hundredth time, Sousuke checked his messages to find out if Kisumi was going to show. Finally, around noon, Kisumi sent him a text telling him to come to the beach near Ryugazaki’s lab, the place Sousuke had had his nap some time ago.

According to Ryugazaki’s analysis, this would be where the monster would show up, if if it did at all. 

Sousuke showed Rin the message and they got ready and were off. 

When they got to their destination, the sky was the color of the healing bruise, dark-tinged and ugly, but the sea was calm. Kisumi was standing on the edge of the path towards the beach and greeted them with a small smile. “Nothing so far,” he said, as they approached. A quick visual sweep through the beach confirmed his words. 

“I didn’t know you and Ryugazaki communicated,” Sousuke said, annoyed at what seemed to be some underhanded dealings between them. 

Kisumi shrugged. “We’ve been business partners for a while. He knows how to sweeten the deal, unlike you.” 

“So my emotional appeal wasn’t necessary after all,” Sousuke said drily. 

“I wouldn’t say so, it was very touching. Sousuke can be very persuasive when he wants to be, right, Rin?” 

“Mm, yes,” Rin said, his attention on his phone. He looked up and stared at Sousuke thoughtfully. “Sousuke, were you bleeding at all when you first saw the monster? Do you remember?” 

“I don’t know,” Sousuke said, massaging the back of his neck. “Some of the branches caught me while I was running, so it’s possible. But why…?” 

“Haru says it’s attracted to the scent of blood. The wounds on the other victims were so extensive that it’s unlikely that the forensics would have caught a cut made a few hours earlier…” 

“Not exactly,” Sousuke said, “I remember -- the third victim used to have a bandage on their left arm. It was torn off in the struggle.” 

“So, who wants to get cut?” Kisumi said cheerfully, brandishing a knife that he seemingly produced from thin air. 

“Hey, don’t swing that thing around!” Sousuke said warningly, reaching for it. Kisumi jerked away, and Rin tried to knock it from his hand. The next moment was a blur, but suddenly a line of blood began to well up across Rin’s left palm. 

“Shit,” Sousuke said, grabbing for a piece of bandage tape. 

Kisumi grabbed Rin’s hand and smeared the blood across his own hand. At the other two’s horrified look, he shrugged. “Why waste the blood?” 

“Sousuke, do it too,” Rin said, his voice low and urgent. Sousuke hesitated for a moment before he nodded, dabbing some of Rin’s blood on his arm and then wrapping up his hand as best as he could. He wished that they could just leave now and go to the hospital, in case Rin needed stitches. 

But then Ryugazaki called. The breach was open and he was waiting for them -- already the sky above Ryugazaki’s lab seemed have a strange cast to it -- gold and glittering. But sadly, Ryugazaki would have to wait, it seemed, because out of the water came large and dark shape, something out of a nightmare. 

There was something sickeningly familiar with the way it walked -- man-shaped but not a man -- and it was -- 

“Rin,” Sousuke said, his breath wheezing, “that’s --” 

Rin shoved him down the path, saying, roughly, “Hurry up. We’ll talk later.” 

That was true. 

Right then, they had to run for their lives. 

*

They ran towards Ryugazaki’s lab, down the rough gravel drive. Sousuke could see Kisumi sprinting in front of him -- he was fast, the bastard, though Rin was keeping pace too. If Sousuke slowed down, he would be caught -- but that would mean they would get away for sure. 

Ahead of him, the air shimmered and seemed to peel back, revealing a patch of utter darkness. If he went through, would the monster follow him? 

Rin turned and shouted his name. “Go faster! Sousuke!” Then, idiotically, Rin began to run _towards_ him. 

Sousuke skidded to a stop just before the boundary and stepped aside. The thing that was chasing him hurtled past him and into the blackness. But Sousuke didn’t have a chance to feel any kind of relief -- something snaked around his leg and he fell, his body was being dragged towards the edge. 

Something flashed in Rin’s hand -- Kisumi’s knife -- and suddenly Sousuke tumbled free. Rin yanked him up and said, between gritted teeth, “I told you -- _not again_.” 

“Sorry, sorry,” Sousuke said, burying his face briefly against Rin’s hair. “I didn’t mean to, this time.” 

*

They burst through the door of Ryugazaki’s lab, where Haru was waiting for them. He took them in without a word and yanked open the lift. The ride down was tense and strange. 

“What happened to Kisumi?” Sousuke said, as soon as he could focus. He really didn’t need to lean on Rin so heavily, but Rin refused to let him go. 

“He’s down there with Makoto and Rei. Seems to think you two were monster food,” Haru said laconically. “If you’d bothered to tell me that you were baiting that thing, I would’ve helped.” He looked pointed at both Rin’s bandaged hand and Sousuke’s leg, which was lacerated by tiny cuts. Sousuke looked down and sighed. Yet another one of his clothes, ruined. 

Inside Ryugazaki’s lab was a scene of some excitement. Mostly because Ryugazaki was running around, like a headless chicken, while both Makoto and Kisumi stood still, uncertain as what to do. Ryugazaki’s head snapped to their direction as soon as they entered the room. Behind his red-framed glasses, his eyes gleamed. 

“Finally,” he shouted, and hit a button. The breach was open here too, and so bright and so dark that it hurt to look at. All at once, Sousuke thought of the day of the storm, and from the expressions on the other men’s faces, they were thinking back too. 

The darkness beyond the breach seemed to ripple and move, but nothing came out of it. They waited, but nothing happened. 

After a while, Makoto ventured to ask Ryugazaki if something was wrong. He shook his head hopelessly and hit the controls. It was then the lights went out. 

“What the hell, it’s happening again,” Rin muttered. He gripped Sousuke’s hand tighter, and Sousuke squeezed it. 

A streak of white burst through the dark. “HI, REI-CHAN! I TOLD YOU I WOULD COME BACK!” boomed a voice in the darkness. 

Hazuki Nagisa had returned to this world, not entirely unchanged from when he left it. 

*

And because Rin never let go of anything in his life, in the middle of their celebratory round of drinks, he turned to Sousuke and said pleasantly, “Sousuke, what did you mean when you said that you’re quitting the force?” 

“Oh, is Sou-chan sick of being a police officer? But I wanted to see him in uniform!” said Nagisa (he had made it impossible for Sousuke to call him anything else.) He was glowing slightly, but he’d been doing that since he came through the breach. 

Ryugazaki -- Rei (Sousuke had given up there too -- it seemed that unbreaking reality together did breed familiarity after all) -- Rei said that this would eventually go away, but really, he had not idea, did he? 

Nagisa glowed and could move objects with his mind and Rei had almost fainted with the idea of testing out his new-found powers. Nagisa also got a strange look in his eyes when he spoke about his time out in the breach -- he insisted he’d only been gone for a few days at most, not years. Rei had his work cut out for him. 

The others -- Haru, Makoto, Rei -- Kisumi had long escaped when no one was looking -- all looked at him now, with differing levels of curiosity and concern. 

Sousuke cleared his throat. “Well,” he began awkwardly. “I joined in the first place because I wanted follow my father’s footsteps. But I’ll never be like him and I don’t want to be. So I’ve thought about it.” 

“If you quit, I will too. What do you want to do afterwards?” 

Half-joking, Sousuke said, “Maybe we become private eyes. Start our own detective agency.”

But there was a gleam of interest in Rin’s eyes. He leaned forward eagerly. “Do you mean it?” 

“Yeah,” Sousuke said, a little startled. “If you want to still be my partner, that is…” 

“You can’t get rid of me that easily,” Rin said with a proud toss of his hair. “We have a lot of mysteries to solve -- what happened to Amakata, clearing the name of that poor SOB who was accused to those murders, lots of things, Sousuke!” 

Sousuke found himself smiling. “Yeah, we have a lot of work to do.” 

“Have you two actually solved a single crime,” said Haru flatly. “Maybe you should take this time to get into a completely different line of work…” 

“Don’t be so discouraging, Haru-chan,” said Makoto easily. “Although now that you mention it, I don’t think their solve-rate was very high…” 

“Oi,” Rin said. “We’re sitting right here. None of this negativity, thanks.”

“I believe in your capacity to solve mysteries, Rin-chan!” Nagisa said, beaming. “Even though in my particular case, Rei-chan pretty much handed everything to you and you didn’t really do anything at all. But you had a good attitude and looked really handsome!” 

“Your friends are really an encouraging bunch, aren’t they?” Sousuke mused aloud. 

“They’re your friends now too, you bastard,” Rin said with a tight smile, but Sousuke only laughed so hard that tears squeezed out of his eyes. That was fine, although a little embarrassing.

*

And when they were (finally) alone, Sousuke hesitated for a moment and said, “Rin, that monster --” 

“I know,” Rin said, his tone suddenly fierce. “I know, Sousuke.” 

“Then I should have known. The times the murders started and what I did -- it was too much of a coincidence. It’s my fault that those people are dead.” 

“It’s not.” Rin sighed. “We don’t know what that thing was, no matter how much you think it was some kind of physical manifestation of your anger -- it wasn’t, Sousuke, and you aren’t responsible for what it did.” 

“You saw how it looked,” Sousuke said, stubbornly. 

“You’d make a much better sea-monster, really.” Rin smiled, brilliantly. “And it’s gone now. Let it rest.” 

*

Mikoshiba took the news relatively well.

“You rotten bastards,” he said with almost supernatural calm. “See if I write a good reference for you. The department’s being consolidated with the town over anyway, but if it wasn’t, I would’ve fired you two.” 

“Thank you for the opportunity, Captain,” Sousuke. 

“We’ll always love you,” said Rin. 

Mikoshiba hung up. 

“Mikoshiba’s very stressed, poor guy. I heard Momo’s run off to pursue a life of crime,” Rin said to Sousuke as they finished up lunch. “With the person who shot you, actually. How disrespectful. Though he did say that they would only do non-violent capers from now on.” 

Sousuke rolled his eyes and took a bite of his mackerel omelet. It tasted amazing, but Haru’s dishes always did. “What a moron.” 

“I don’t know,” Rin said thoughtfully. “Everything’s better with the right partner, don’t you think?”

Sousuke agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's done! It's done! Let me blow some air-horns because it's done! 
> 
> Thank you for reading and I hope you liked it. ♥ 
> 
> I was going to have them drive off into the sunset but thought it might be too much. The sunset is implied, anyway.
> 
> I've love to heart your thoughts about this story! Comments are adored. Drop by my Tumblr, [havisham](https://havisham.tumblr.com/) to scream about SouRin.

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Depeche Mode. 
> 
> Five chapters in isn't too late for a #rebrand, right?


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